On a Pale Mustang
by Gryphon Aerie
Summary: FF.net really butchered Chp 12... so bear with them... Send me an E-mail if you want the PROPER version thereof...
1. Chp 01

On a Pale Mustang  
By: Gryphon Aerie  
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction  
  
Disclaimers:  
Ranma is owned by Rumiko Takahashi  
That is all  
  
AN:  
This chapter is what one could call 'Dark' in the beginning. You   
have been forewarned.  
  
  
  
Chapter 01  
  
  
  
***  
  
The sun rose slowly that morning over the district of Nerima. The   
noise of the chaotic place was, strangely, subdued. Almost as if the   
world waited with baited breath for what was soon to happen. The sky   
was pale and clear, glowing a light blue even though the sun had yet to   
show it's golden face. The air was crisp and cold, chilling the flesh   
with its icy grasp. A light powdering of snow covered the ground,   
making the world seem pure and unsullied.  
  
The Tendo Dojo was as silent as the rest of the world, not even   
Kasumi having awoken as of yet. It was, all in all, a calm Sunday   
morning. The only person up was a young man with black hair and   
hauntingly blue eyes.  
  
Ranma Saotome, age seventeen, heir of the Saotome branch of the   
Masabetsu Kakuto Ryuu, sat with his legs resting in the snow. He was   
wearing a pure white kimono and a long thin object rested against the   
snow in front of his knees.  
  
With a sigh of contentment Ranma looked at the Koi pond, smiling   
faintly, and reached a hand out to the wakizashi that sat before him.   
With a single fluid movement he pulled the blade from it's sheath and   
placed both down on the ground once again. He then proceeded to shift   
his kimono top off of his shoulders, letting it rest around his waist,   
still held on by his belt.  
  
Once again taking the blade in hand he admired it.  
  
The blade was a true work of art. Deadliness mixed with beauty. Its   
mirror-shined blade reflected the pale morning sky, the razor-sharp   
edge sparkling as he turned the blade around in his hands. On the guard   
was the family seal for the Clan Saotome, the clan into which he was   
born.  
  
Nobody knew what he had planned for this cold winter morning, nor   
would anyone know until it was much to late for them, and him. He had   
planned it that way over the past few weeks, making sure that everyone   
was just tired enough the night before to sleep in that morning.  
  
An opened scroll lay on the snow beside him, upon which could be   
seen writing and the simple finger-painting of a young Ranma Saotome. A   
contract that his father had signed so many years ago that Ranma would   
be a 'man amongst men'. The punishment for failure?  
  
Death.  
  
Slowly he reached down and grabbed the right sleeve of his Kimono,   
wrapping the bright blade in his hands in its length and giving him the   
purchase needed for his task. He was struck by the beauty around him,   
and the way that the snow-covered ground blended in with the pale white   
of his kimono.  
  
Pale white, the symbol of death itself.  
  
Ranma hissed as the ice-cold touch of the blade, somehow managing to   
be colder even than the freezing world around him, met with the bare   
skin of his abdomen. The hairs on his arms rose slightly as a chill   
swept through his body. The contact made him think about all that which   
had brought him to his current situation...  
  
***  
  
Ranma's life had never been easy. In fact, his life had been nothing   
less than one conflict after another, and that is what had shaped him   
into the skilled martial artist that he was today. But it had not been   
until he and his father had settled down in Nerima did his life truly   
become hell.  
  
Suddenly everybody that he had met before and who had somehow been   
wronged was able to find him. First came Shampoo with her Amazon laws.   
Then came Ukyo, whom he had only known as a friend, with her engagement   
and her ten years of ruined life. After that a friend that he had   
missed since junior high, Ryoga Hibiki, came spouting revenge and   
trying to kill him.  
  
The list went on.  
  
Jilted fiancees, old rivals, people offended by either his father or   
the old 'master', Happosai. Every week brought a new problem that   
always seemed to aggravate the old ones into further agitation.  
  
Never did Ranma get a moment of peace; never did he get a truly   
understanding person who he could confide in. Even when he finally   
found out that his mother was actually *alive* he found out that,   
because of his father's past actions, he would be forced to kill   
himself.  
  
It kept on going.  
  
Akane Tendo, whom he had once been in love with, had never admitted   
her feelings to him and he, having never learned how to, was never   
capable of doing the same. Her accusations and quick assumptions hurt   
him much more than her mallet blows, and her anger and frustration was   
merely salt in his emotional wounds.  
  
Then there were their fathers, constantly forcing the engagement on   
them, and forever smothering any real chance that they could have any   
real relationship. The men never knew, in their own stupidity and   
ignorance, that every try they made to secure the family legacy merely   
assured that it would never, could never, happen.  
  
Even after Ranma had brought Akane back from the dead, having killed   
a Kami in the process, they never got a chance to let their   
relationship mature. Instead their meddling fathers had forced them to   
get married immediately, never asking if it was what they truly wanted.  
  
  
It was just as good that the wedding had been ruined, for Ranma   
himself no longer truly knew what it was that he wanted.  
  
He was an honorable young man, that having been the only thing that   
had kept him going for so many years. He held his honor near and dear   
to his heart, and could never part with it for all the tea in China.  
  
The very fact that he was required by his own honor to uphold all of   
the arrangements that his father had made over their travels,   
unbeknownst to him, made it so that he could never marry without   
breaking his own honor. His honor, that which was even more important   
to him than even the Art itself.  
  
And so Ranma found himself blocked from all possible avenues of   
escape. No matter what he did with his life, he would dishonor not only   
himself, but his own clan. All avenues, of course, except one.  
  
And that is what brings Ranma to where he is...  
  
***  
  
Kasumi awoke that morning, snug in the heavy quilt that she loved so   
much. The bright morning sky could be seen through the partially opened   
curtains that covered her bedroom window. With a sigh she burrowed   
deeper into her bedding, letting the warmth on her smooth skin comfort   
her before she got out to face the world.  
  
Suddenly she felt something off with the spirit of he home, a   
feeling on impending dread and horror that crept into her warm bed and   
embraced her soul with icy-cold talons of fear. A feeling that   
something horrible, truly horrible, was soon to happen.  
  
Her body coursed with adrenaline as she leapt out of her bed, her   
nightgown fluttering in the force of her passing. She opened her door   
quickly, for the first time since her mother died not even bothering to   
close it, and ran down the hallway.  
  
The stairs were taken two and three at a time as she courted a fatal   
accident, but such thoughts as her own safety were far from her own   
mind. No, what filled her mind was of a completely different focus.  
  
Why hadn't she seen it sooner? Ranma had seemed content, almost   
peaceful, for the past week. It had been as if all the troubles that   
abounded no longer bothered him, as if they would all be gone soon and   
needn't be worried about.  
  
He looked at the world around him in awe, as if he was seeing   
everything for the first time again, everything new and glorious in his   
new view in life. But it had been quite the opposite, and she   
understood that now. He wasn't seeing everything for the first time...  
  
He was seeing it for the *last* time.  
  
***  
  
Ranma smiled to the world as he plunged the blade of ice deep into   
his being. His soul cried in joy as it felt the sudden rush of cold   
deep within it's being, tears of anguish and elation falling down his   
cheeks as he twisted the blade and slid across, it's razor edge cutting   
him without pain.  
  
With a sigh he pulled the blade out, placing it on the snow once   
again. He glanced at his hand, then at the snow. His hand was covered   
in crimson, making his skin seem as if it were made of fire. The snow   
was decorated festively with bright red rubies placed randomly on   
display as if the snow was white velvet.  
  
The tears on his cheeks began to freeze as his body cooled, his skin   
turning as pale as the world around him as red flowed from him and onto   
the ground, pooling thickly and freezing in the winter air.  
  
Finally, his honor was fulfilled.  
  
***  
  
Kasumi slammed the door off its coasters, revealing the backyard of   
their home. She gasped in relief as she saw Ranma sitting there with   
his back to her, facing the frozen Koi pond, her chest easing as she   
saw that he was there and safe. She began to walk slowly across the   
snow-covered ground, her bare feet freezing in the powdery carpet that   
she tread upon.  
  
Suddenly she saw a color that was out of place, a bright vivid red,   
the red of life. She sobbed in horror as she ran over to Ranma's side,   
placing a hand on his shoulder. She almost pulled away from the icy   
contact with his flesh, flesh that no longer glowed with the inner   
warmth that she always associated with the young martial artist.  
  
The ground in front of him was covered in his blood, his family   
wakizashi sitting serenely before him just beyond the lake of red. The   
front of his belly, revealed as his kimono top lay around his waist,   
was cut cleanly across in a manner as old as time.  
  
She was startled as Ranma slowly turned his head towards her,   
smiling even as the ice on his cheeks crackled from the movement. His   
eyes, which had before glowed with an inner energy, were dull and   
vacant as he stared into her soul.  
  
"H... hey, Ka... Kasumi... don... don't cry... f... for me..." he   
said softly, weakly reaching out his bloodstained hand to trace the   
path of her tears down her cheeks.  
  
Suddenly his eyes widened in awe, the life seeming to come back into   
them. He smiled, his joy lighting up his pale features just as the sun   
broke over the city, shedding it's golden light. Then, just as swiftly   
as the light came to his eyes, it left, leaving behind only emptiness.  
  
"No..." Kasumi said, grabbing a hold of his hand as it fell from her   
face. "No no no no no!"  
  
She reached out both hands, grabbing a hold of his shoulders, trying   
to wake him up, as if he was merely asleep. The cold body in her hands   
merely hung there, the life long since removed. That which had animated   
it was gone, and gone forever.  
  
Ranma Saotome was no more.  
  
***  
  
Ranma found himself flying in an ocean of infinite darkness, the   
only light a single speck far above that called to him, called to his   
soul. Ranma knew that he was dead, and that this was what came after   
death. To fulfill his own honor, and the honor of his clan, he had   
taken his own life. There was no turning back from death, that he knew   
well.  
  
Suddenly there was a presence beside him.  
  
A young woman of perhaps her mid twenties floated beside him,   
glowing a pale white in the darkness. Somehow she reminded him of   
Kasumi, though he knew not why. She was dressed in a beautiful kimono   
of pure white, and glowed with an inner energy. She smiled faintly at   
him, and then spoke.  
  
"Hello, young one," she said in a beautiful voice. "I am Kimiko   
Tendo."  
  
"T-Tendo?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Yes, I am the late wife of Soun Tendo, and mother of three   
beautiful girls," she replied, a longing look coming to her face. "And   
right now one of my little girls is mourning for you."  
  
"Kasumi," Ranma stated simply, looking away from Kimiko and out into   
the void.  
  
"Yes," Kimiko replied. "Though she did not show it, she loved you   
like no other. Not a single day passed that she did not curse herself   
for not accepting the engagement. Her foolishness and fear of the   
unknown had kept her from accepting you that first day, and forever did   
she mourn that fact. You are truly a man worth living a whole life   
with. In fact, I'd say that being with you is even worth..." she   
paused, which caused Ranma to look over to her. Her eyes were filled   
with sorrow. "Dying for..." she finished, then looked away.  
  
"N-no," he said in horrible realization.  
  
"Yes," she said, her voice hoarse. "Right at this moment my daughter   
is sitting in the snow beside your body, looking at the blade that you   
used to take your life, and thinking about doing much the same, just so   
that she can be with you."  
  
"I-I've got to stop her!" he said frantically.  
  
Unknowingly his spirit flared, lighting up the dark world around   
them with it's brilliance. The light turned from the blue opf   
confidence to a sickly green of depression. With each passing moment   
his aura grew, and grew, until it shined like a miniature sun in the   
Void.  
  
"There is only one way to walk the mortal realm after one dies," she   
said, coldly. "And that is a path that is not to be trod upon lightly."  
  
"Anything, anything so that I may stop her from dying," Ranma   
pleaded. "She... she means... I... I love her..."  
  
Suddenly he realized why he had silently wished not to be married to   
Akane. It was not completely because he did not love her any longer, it   
was because... his heart had been taken by another, without him ever   
realizing it.  
  
Every small action, every little thing that Kasumi did, spoke to his   
soul, saying 'I'm here, you're safe, you're not alone'. Every time that   
she smiled, every time that her misty gray eyes turned in his   
direction, filled with that certain something that he had never seen   
before, his heart called out in joy.  
  
A certain something...  
  
Acceptance...  
  
She accepted him for who, and what, he was. She never tried to steal   
his heart, never did she fight for the right to have him be 'hers'.   
Never once did she claim ownership of him. Never did she accuse him of   
anything, never did she jump to conclusions without letting him tell   
his side of the story. Not once did she try to steal his heart, but in   
the end she did not have to.  
  
He have it willingly.  
  
"I... I love her," he said, realizing it for the first time.  
  
Suddenly another figure was standing there with them.  
  
A chill went through Ranma's soul as his aura guttered and hugged   
itself close to him. The figure sat astride a massive white warhorse,   
hidden by a heavy black cloak. The figure beneath was thin and gaunt,   
from what Ranma could tell, and exuded a sense of impending doom that   
could literally be *tasted*.  
  
The figure's hooded head moved slightly, revealing the face hidden   
within the cowl. A face, perhaps, but not that of anything living, for   
it was made of pure white, it's eyes twin empty hollows, it's nose a   
hole in the middle of it's face. No lips hid its teeth, no hair graced   
its brow. It was a skull, the face of Death.  
  
"You wish to be with her?" Death asked him.  
  
The voice echoed hollowly against the nothingness, it's slightly   
hissing tones thrumming with a deep hidden power barely held in check.   
The light above seemed to dim slightly as Death spoke, as their spirits   
themselves did wane in brightness.  
  
"Y-yes," Ranma said, afraid for himself for the first time.  
  
"Then there is something that you must do," Death stated.  
  
The silence was overwhelming, pressing in on all sides. Death   
reached a single bony hand out and grasped the handle of his scythe,   
which had before been slung across his saddle. With a simple deft   
movement he threw the weapon towards Ranma, causing the martial artist   
to catch the twisted shaft with his hands.  
  
"You must kill me."  
  
Ranma shivered at those words, their meaning sinking in. To escape   
Death, you must kill Death. He had killed once before, to save   
another's life. He must kill again, to save another. But how can one   
kill that which is already dead?  
  
"K-kill you?" Ranma asked, his voice shaking.  
  
Kimiko floated silently back, her mouth opening and closing slightly   
in shock.  
  
"Yes," Death stated.  
  
"B-but..."  
  
"Don't worry, it is more symbolic than anything," Death stated. "To   
return to the mortal realm you must take my mantle, become Death."  
  
"But wouldn't that mean that I'd have to... kill people?"  
  
Death laughed.  
  
"No, my job is merely that of Representative. I do not actually take   
any souls, this... Place... sends the souls where they are supposed to   
go in the afterlife," Death stated, waving an arm towards their   
surroundings. "Make your decision soon, for I feel that the young lady   
is about to make hers."  
  
***  
  
Kasumi reached a trembling hand out to the handle of the wakizashi,   
her cold fingers grabbing the rough grip tightly. The handle was still   
slick with the sickly cold and oily touch of Ranma's spilt blood,   
causing her to clasp it tighter as she slowly brought it towards her   
body.  
  
She took the blade in her hands, tears falling from her eyes as she   
looked at the dead body of her beloved. She hissed as the tip of the   
blade touched her skin, poking through the thin cloth of her nightgown.  
  
"Ranma..."  
  
***  
  
The bright blade flashed, then plunged deep into the body of its   
target. The body writhed in agony, causing the blade to twist and shred   
it's innards with its keen edge. The blade pulled out swiftly, and then   
spun back around for another pass.  
  
Kimiko watched in awe as the one once known as Ranma Saotome removed   
Death's head from his shoulders with his own scythe, causing the cloak   
to billow and collapse as it's corporal being disappeared.  
  
In Death's place now stood a spirit of an old man. The old man stood   
around four feet tall, and appeared to be Scottish in origin, from what   
one could tell. His eyes sparkled in amusement as he looked at the   
stunned young man.  
  
"Well, what are ye waiting fer? Put on the cloak, get astride that   
beast, and ride for all ye be worth! Ye got a lass in trouble, no time   
to dawdle!" the old Death said.  
  
***  
  
"Kasumi! Wait!" said a frantic voice.  
  
Kasumi's head jerked in the direction of the voice only to see a   
cloaked figure astride a pale white horse. Laying across the black   
saddle was a large scythe. Suddenly she knew who it was. It was Death.  
  
"No," she said, blinking away tears. "If I can't be with my   
Ranma-sama, then I'll die to be with him."  
  
Death got off his steed, landing softly without a sound in the snow.   
Kasumi idly noted that the figure's feet were clad in black slippers.   
Taking a few steps forward Death closed the distance between himself   
and Kasumi, and reached a hand to his hood.  
  
"You don't have to die," said Death, removing his hood. "I'm here,   
Kasumi."  
  
Ranma's face, once again aglow with life, came into view above his   
cloaked form. Kasumi thought for a moment that it was some form of   
magic to keep her from joining her love, but one thing could never lie.  
  
His eyes.  
  
Ranma's eyes.  
  
"R-Ranma?" she asked, frightful and unsure.  
  
"Yes, Kasumi-chan," Ranma said with a warm smile. "It's me."  
  
"But... how?.." she asked, looking towards his body.  
  
"I was given an offer that I couldn't refuse," he replied.  
  
"What?.."  
  
"Kasumi, I love you," he said with a smile, reaching down to lift   
her to her feet. "I could never leave you now."  
  
"Ranma..." she said weakly, the blade slipping from her numb hands.  
  
He smiled.  
  
"Shh... I'm here now, Kasumi," he said. "I'll always be here for   
you."  
  
She burst into tears again and fell into his chest, her arms thrown   
around his strong frame. Ranma awkwardly put his arms around her,   
hugging her back. Kasumi melted into the warmth of his arms, warmth   
that she had thought she could never feel again. Her hot tears flowed   
freely down her face and onto his Cloak, seeming to run off like oil.  
  
"Kasumi, I love you," he said, kissing the top of her head.  
  
"I... I love you, Ranma," she said with a sob of joy.  
  
And then... Kasumi fainted from the stress, becoming limp in Ranma's   
arms. With a faint smile he swing her up, one arm beneath her knees,   
the other cradling her shoulders, her head resting against his   
shoulder. He couldn't help but breathe in the aroma of her hair as he   
carried her up and into her room, not bothering to clean up the... mess   
in the back yard.  
  
***  
  
  
  
Damn, I got all poetic and stuff...  
  
All in all I am fairly pleased so far, and hope to continue. The   
first part, up until Ranma finds himself in the Void, can be considered   
a fic in and of itself.  
  
C&C welcome, flames will be eaten without salt (Atevi proverb,   
meaning 'quickly').  
  
gryphon_aerie@msn.com  
  
This is Gryphon Aerie, signing off...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
^_^;  



	2. Chp 02

On a Pale Mustang  
By: Gryphon Aerie  
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction  
  
Disclaimers:  
Ranma is owned by Rumiko Takahashi  
That is all  
  
AN:  
This chapter is what one could call 'Dark' all throughout. You have   
been forewarned.  
  
  
  
Chapter 02  
  
  
  
***  
  
Akane Tendo awoke with a snort, blearily looking around her room for   
that which had woken her up. Her eyes rested momentarily on the small   
black piglet laying beside her on her bed, then moved away.  
  
The curtains over her window moved slightly, letting a slight breeze   
of cold winter air into her room, causing her to shrink into herself   
slightly at its touch. Reaching a hand out she grabbwed the bamboo   
practice sword that she always kept beside her bed and, stretching to   
her limit, used the stick as leverage to close the offending portal to   
the outer world.  
  
P-chan awoke with a slight snort and looked over at Akane, then   
looked away, a faint blush lighting his porcine features. With a small   
heave of his stunted legs he stood up and stretched, his little body   
quivering with tension.  
  
"Good morning, P-chan," Akane said warmly, smiling at her little   
'pet'. "Let's see what the Baka is up to today, ne?"  
  
***  
  
After a quick bath and a change of clothes Akane Tendo, heir of the   
Tendo branch of the Masabetsu Kakuto Ryuu, made her way slowly down the   
stairs. P-chan, snug in her warm arms, sighed in contentment.  
  
"That's strange," Akane noted. "I would have thought that Kasumi   
would be up by now..."  
  
Shrugging the thought off as irrelivant in the wake of pounding on   
Ranma she made her way to the livingroom. As she entered the cold air   
of the room send a frigid chill up her legs and along her back. Looking   
over she saw that the sliding doors were knocked off their rails.  
  
"What the?" she asked, walking over to the sliding doors and looking   
out into the yard.  
  
She was not, in any way, ready for the sight that met her. In fact,   
one ould say that seeing Ranma's ice-cold body laying in a puddle of   
red slush was the last thing on her list of expected things, right up   
there with Nabiki giving money away to people and her father not crying   
over something.  
  
Her arms went limp, dropping an equally shocked P-chan to the floor   
with a small thud. Her jaw worked up and down as her lips quaked,   
trying to form the words that she could not say, for her voice was as   
frosen as Ranma's body. P-chan's eyes widened in shock and he began to   
shake slightly, from what we may never know.  
  
Anger?  
  
Joy?  
  
Betrayal?  
  
One thing was for sure, nothing had prepared them for the sight of   
Ranma, dead by his own hands. The sun glowed golden along the top of   
the retaining wall of the yard, shadding more light on the horrible   
scene. The pale white warhorse that stood there in the background was   
not noted by either of the two members of the audience.  
  
***  
  
Nabiki awoke with a start, wondering just what in the hell could get   
her awake when she was having such a good dream.  
  
After all, nothing short of a blood-curtling scream could get her   
out of a dream like thet. Rich, famous, influential, waited on hand and   
foot by a legion of well-trained men with hot, oiled bodies glistening   
in the carribian sun.  
  
She fell out of her bed when the sound came again.  
  
A scream of terror and anguish and horror, coming from the direction   
of the yard. A scream that was loud and powerful, but also obviously   
feminine. The scream, she realized, of her dear, dear younger sister,   
the Tomboy Akane.  
  
"What the?" Nabiki wondered, getting up off the floor. "Is it   
another prince?"  
  
Nabiki, ever ready to gain a quick buck, grabbede her camera and   
dashed through the hall, down the stairs, and to the livingroom,   
bringing the lense to bear on *whatever* it was that had caused her   
yougner sister to scream...  
  
And froze, staring through the lense as Akane stood there screaming,   
P-chan at her feet, at the limp body laying in a pool of it's own   
blood. Certain things came to quick realization. And Nabiki began to   
twitch as her camera fell out of her hand and onto the floor.  
  
One, the body was wearing a white kimono, the shirt of which was   
around it's waist.  
  
Two, the body was pale white, the white of death.  
  
Three, there was a large pool of blood around the body, and a bloody   
wakizashi nearby on the snow.  
  
Four, the body was Ranma's.  
  
And Five, Ranma had committed suppuku.  
  
Her scream joined Akane's, creating an echoing resonance on that   
cold winters morning.  
  
***  
  
Cologne, elder matriarch of the Joketsuzoku Chinese Amazons, awoke   
with a start, and looked over at the small shrine that sat against the   
wall across her room. As she looked the shrine shivvered, and fell   
over. A chill went up her spine, and it had nothing to do with the low   
temperature of the air.  
  
"An omen," she stated. "I must go to son-in-law to see what has   
happened."  
  
With that said she grabbed her staff, threw on her robe, and left   
the Car Cafe with all due haste, heading for Ranma's home.  
  
***  
  
(AN: The freakiest scene in all of the Ranma movies that I have seen   
thus far was in Mirror, Mirror, where Cologne is in a nightgown. I   
mean, is that scary or *what*?)  
  
***  
  
Ukyo Kounji, ever an early riser, finished writing the   
carefully-planned letter, setting the ink brush to the side and sighing   
heavily. As she let the ink dry she strapped on her bandoleer and slid   
her battle spatula into its special sheath, ready for a quick draw.  
  
She had lost Ranma the day of the wedding, even though the marriage   
never happened. She had lost him because no relationship can exist   
without trust, and she had made sure that he could never trust her   
again.  
  
It broke her heart to think that her own actions had forever placed   
a wedge between them, not only making it so that he could never love   
her as a wife, but also making sure that he could never again know her   
as a friend.  
  
Her tears flowed silently as she wrapped the letter up, tying it in   
place with the white ribbon that she had used to tie her ponytail back.   
Her hair cascaded in a chestnut wave down her back, hanging limp as a   
mirror of her own flagging spirits.  
  
She had to see her Ran-chan one more time, at least to say goodbye,   
to part on good terms.  
  
***  
  
Nodoka frowned as she walked the streets of Nerima, heading from the   
train station to the Dojo through the light snow. Each step that she   
took caused the silk-wrapped bundle tied against her back to knock into   
her, reminding her of her responsibilities.  
  
*Oh Ranma,* she thought to herself. *How ever are you going to get   
out of this mess that your father made for you?*  
  
Shaking her head she continued on her way through the lonely   
streets, her breath billowing in small misty clouds that floated in the   
still air, dancing along without a care until she walked through them,   
breaking them up into little fluffs that quickly died in the early   
morning light.  
  
***  
  
Cologne was the first to arrive at the Tendo dojo, hopping easily   
over the outer wall of the compound and landing astride her cane in the   
thin snow. As she pogoed around the building to the side that held the   
koi pond, from where she felt the presences of two of the house's   
residents, she could feel something wrong with the way that the spirit   
realm interacted there.  
  
As she rounded the bend she suddenly knew why, for Death's pale   
horse was standing, all but unseen, near the far wall. A steed that   
never strayed far from its master. It's snow-white coat blended in with   
it's snowy surroundings, it's very nature making one's eyes slip from   
it, causing one's mind to ignore it's presence. It's twin black eyes   
glowed with a spark of inner flame that spoke to the soul, and none of   
the words were comforting.  
  
And then, of course, was the small, unmistakable fact that Ranma was   
lying there in a pool of his own blood. Dead. Quite obviously dead. The   
human body can only go so long with most of one's innards cut cleanly   
with a blade, one's precious lifeblood spilt upon the snow.  
  
That, of course, would almost explain the presence of Death's steed.  
  
Taking in her surroundings, Death's steed, Ranma's corpse, and the   
two crying Tendo girls, Cologne did what came naturally, and pogoed   
over to the distraught young ladies to try to comfort them.  
  
***  
  
Ukyo, silent as the wind, crept along the rooftops of Nerima. It was   
moments like this that showed that she was trained to be a ninja, her   
Art hidden in her family's own Art of okonomiyaki. Hidden, but still   
there.  
  
Her hair flowed behind her like a tattered and frayed flag, once   
glorious but now tired and old, the life taken out of it. Clutched in   
one hand was a single scroll of paper wrapped with a wehite ribbon.   
Tears traced golden trails down he cheeks as she raced through the   
silent winder morning, the sun just showing above the horizon.  
  
Soon the Tendo home loomed ahead of her, and she began to slow down   
her approach. With a single leap she landed on the wall of the home and   
looked into the yard. A moment later she was crouching by the side of   
her once good friend, refusing the fact that he was dead even as her   
knees landed in the red ice made by his own blood.  
  
He lay on his side, his eyes open but unseeing. Gone was the spark   
hidden in those blue depths, gone was the welcoming smile that had   
often graced his lips, gone was the warmth of his soul bursting through   
his fragile mortal shell. Instead he was like a formless statue made of   
ivory, his once golden skin turned white from the cold... and his   
death.  
  
"R-Ranchan?" Ukyo asked as Colgone tried her best to comfort Nabiki   
and Akane. "H-hey, w-wake up Ranchan... It's me... Ucchan... your   
buddy... wake up..."  
  
She tried to shake his shoulder in a morbid attempt to wake him up,   
her mind not accepting the cold fact that he would never, could never,   
wake up. For death was to sleep forever, and never return. Her tears   
began to flow harder as her hands pressed against the icy flesh of the   
one that had been her best friend, her fiancee.  
  
"H-hey... Ranchan... Ranma... wake up..."  
  
Cologne sadly shook her head as Ukyo went deeper and deeper into her   
state of shock, her letter of goodbye lying forgotten on the ground   
beside another, somewhat more important, slip of paper.  
  
***  
  
Nodoka knocked on the heavy front gate of the Tendo home, waiting   
patiently for her call to be answered. From somewhere nearby came sobs   
of anguish, causing her to frown slightly. Once again she knocked on   
the gate, her heart sinking.  
  
When she had gotten up in the morning a certain slip of paper, that   
which had kept her from seeing her only son for the past eleven years,   
had been missing. This, in and of itself, was disconcerting. The fact   
that the wakizashi that matched their honor blade was also missing was   
cause for panic.  
  
She, being a calm and collected lady, had dressed properly and   
headed for the Tendo home with all due haste. The early morning train,   
empty but for those few souls forced to travel early on a sunday   
morning, had moved much to slow for her liking.  
  
After knocking a third time she opened the gate herself, finding out   
in the process that the cries came not from somewhere nearby, but from   
the Tendo home itself. With a gasp of shock she ran around the house,   
stopping as she caught sight of those gathered in the yard.  
  
Akane and Nabiki Tendo were sitting, leaning against each other, on   
the porch. An old woman of diminutive size with a massive staff was   
baside them, trying to comfort the distraught young ladies. A young   
girl with chestnut brown hair, Ukyo, Nodoka remembered, was on her   
knees trying to wake somebody up.  
  
It was quite obvious that that somebody would never wake up again,   
for they were dead. Her family wakizashi lay bloodied on the snow   
beside the body, the tip touching a pool of blood frozen by the winter   
air. A familiar slip of paper rested close by, the suppuku contract   
that her husband and son had signed.  
  
"R-Ranma?" Nodoka asked, her voice quavering in shock.  
  
She had wanted so badly to finally meet her son, but she had never,   
even in her most horrid of dreams, imagined that she would meet only   
his dead body. A dead body made that way by it's own hands, as   
befitting of a dishonored samurai of old. Belly cut open with a   
wakizashi, dressed in a pure white kimono.  
  
Normally such an act would have a person known as a 'second' with a   
katana in hand to finish the warrior off, make their suffering end   
quickly. This act of honor had no such aid, speaking of both lonliness   
and the magnitude of the task undertaken.  
  
To cut one's own belly open, bleeding to death, sitting there as   
one's insides are parted in the most horrible of fashions. Knowing that   
you are going to suffer the pain of dying slowly, just so that one can   
pass on with honor.  
  
Only a truely great warrior would take such a path, a person of   
great honor, with no other options left to them. Backed into a moral   
corner with only one, final, avenue of escape.  
  
And, the most horrible thing of all, she recognized his eyes. His   
eyes that, even in death, reminded her of her infant Ranma as he smiled   
and played under her watchful eyes. Her Ranma that had been taken from   
her by her husband for eleven long years, leaving her without family   
for comfort.  
  
And now she was finally reunited with her long-lost son, the martial   
artist without peer that she had heard so many wonderous tales about.   
And now she knew that she would never meet her son, for he had slipped   
past even a mother's ability to grasp.  
  
She walked slowly over to Ranma's body, tears making their way down   
her sad face. Each step brought her closer to her son's body, a body   
that had once housed one of the world's greatest fighting spirits, and   
a body that no loner held *any* spirit.  
  
She fell to her knees beside the young chef, one hand dropping to   
the wakizashi. Slowly and deliberately she pulled out a white silken   
cloth from her kimono, wiping the blood from the blade and handle,   
making sure that there was not any left in the Tang to promote decay of   
the metal. She took comfort in the simple task as she tried,   
unsucessfully, to come to terms with what had happened.  
  
The blade slid into it's laquered sheath with a soft sliding whisper   
and a muted clack, hiding the life-taking blade from view. Nodoka   
hugged the sheathed weapon to her chest, and began to cry aloud at the   
injustice of it all.  
  
***  
  
Soun and Genma, awoken by the commotion in the yard, entered the   
living room. Soun immediately burst into tears when he saw his little   
girls crying, while Genma, not yet noting his wife, ran over to Ranma's   
body. His large frame shook in shock as he look into his dead son's   
empty eyes, and he fell to his knees. His weathered hands opened and   
closed at his sides as if he was trying to grasp something that kept   
slipping away.  
  
"M'boy?" Genma asked, his voice a mwere whisper. "Ranma?"  
  
Nodoka looked over at him slowly, her mind in other places. Her eyes   
glinted with tears both shed and unshed, making the world aroudn her a   
mosaic of blurs. In her sorrow some small portion of her mind, a primal   
instinct that somehow recognized her husband, caused her to latch onto   
him as an emotional lifeline.  
  
Genma merely blinked as his wife, whom he had hidden from for the   
past year, lathced onto him, her tears soaking through his pale white   
Gi. A small subconscious part of his mind made his arm move, draping   
over her shaking shoulders.  
  
***  
  
"Why?" Akane asked in a whisper.  
  
"I... I think I know why," Nabiki mumbled absently, still staring at   
Ranma, whom she had begun to think of as a little brother.  
  
Cologne looked over at Nabiki, her eyes questioning. She, too, knew   
why Ranma had killed himself, but it would help her to hear it from   
another.  
  
During her stay in Nerima she had learned a lot of things. She had   
also gotten to know her 'son-in-law' not only as a potential relative,   
but as a warrior and, above all, an individual that did not know the   
meaning of the word 'quit'. His spirit amazed her, even with her three   
hundred plus years of experience. His was a soul that would never quit.  
  
But it had.  
  
"Why?" Akane asked again.  
  
"Honor," Nabiki said, looking to the sky with tears in her eyes. "No   
matter what you did to push him away he still stayed here, never   
betraying the pact between our families even though running away would   
be the easiest solution. He kept his honor, and his honor kept him   
sane."  
  
Nabiki took a deep, shuddering breath, and continued.  
  
"If there's one thing that I know how to do, it's read people. Ranma   
was forced to live a life of hardship, where he could never be   
comforted by friend or family. Years on the road with his only constant   
being his honorless father and the Art forced him to find something,   
anything, to keep him going." Nabiki closed her eyes, her head bowing   
forward. "Honor which, because of his father's actions, could never be   
fulfilled..."  
  
"Except in death," Cologne finished for her.  
  
Akane sat there, shock on her face. Then, slowly but surely, he   
expression turned from sorrow, to rage. Rage, that which had kept her   
in control of the world around her since her father had died. Rage,   
that which had kept her from getting close to anybody, close like she   
had been to her own mother.  
  
"He... he... he left me!" she shouted out, standing up and stomping   
over to the body. "You bastard! Pervert! Baka! Jerk! How dare you leave   
me! You *belong* to me!"  
  
Everybody looked at the furious Tendo girl, finally understanding   
the girl's views on the subject.  
  
All her life, little 'princess' Akane had been given everythign on a   
silver platter. Kasumi cooked and cleaned. Nabiki made sure there was   
money. The dojo was handed to her without question, *hers* by   
birthright. The boys of the school bowed and scraped to her, Akane   
Tendo of the Anything Goes school of martial arts. And a faincee, made   
to order. The most honorable, descent, and brave man of his age, and by   
far one of the greatest warriors ever.  
  
Never once did she have to work for anything, never did she even   
try. Cooking? Of course she was an expert by *default*! Martial arts?   
She was, of course, the *best*! Unbeatable! Everything she was an   
expert at in her own demented world, unsurpassed and unsurpassable, the   
best, of the best, *of* the best.  
  
And now her little perfect world was being taken away by that most   
fiercest of foes, the coldest of enemies. Reality. No longer was she   
'princess Akane' of the Tendo Ryuu, fiancee of Ranma Saotome, *the*   
Ranma Saotome. Now she was just a stuck up little girl trying to regain   
her lost empire.  
  
With a snarl she reared back and *kicked* Ranma's body in the side,   
causing the frozen-over wound in his stomach to open again, spilling   
the last of his blood onto the snow. Finally Ranma couldn't dodge her   
attacks, finally he took what was coming to him, finally he lay on the   
ground before her, proving *once again* that *she*, and nobody else,   
was the *best*!  
  
The rest just looked on in horror as she struck the body repeatedly,   
laughing manically with insane glee at the pleasure of beating upon the   
corpse, feeling it's frozen flesh bend beneath her sledgehammer blows.  
  
Cologne merely shook her head in disgust, looking away from the   
childish actions of the Tendo girl. She idly noted that the aky was   
starting to cloud up, the pale blue being slowly replaced with powdery   
white as the sun creeped along the sky shedding light on the cold world   
below.  
  
***  
  
  
  
Well now, how's that for a second chapter?  
  
A little morbid and revealing, but that's the way this fic is going   
right now.  
  
Next time we find out what happens when Kasumi awakes from her 'nap'   
and finds herself along in her room with the new 'Death'. While the   
death os Ranma is mourned the one that caem after him has a   
little-heart-to-heart with our favorite woman of mist.  
  
As always, C&C welcome, flames will be eaten without salt.  
  
gryphon_aerie@msn.com  
  
This is Gryphon Aerie, signing off...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
^_^; 


	3. Chp 03

On a Pale Mustang  
By: Gryphon Aerie  
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction  
  
Disclaimers:  
Ranma is owned by Rumiko Takahashi  
That is all  
  
  
  
Chapter 03  
  
  
  
***  
  
Ranma watched the sleeping Kasumi, a faint smile on his face.  
  
His eyes traced the gentle curve of her cheek, mapping it's smooth   
expanse with more care than a sculpter working on a masterpiece, for it   
was so much more than a masterpiece, it was the woman that he loved.   
Her skin, smooth as velvet and twice as soft, glowed with life as she   
lay there serenely. Her beautiful auburn hair flowed down her neck and   
across her pillow in a river of silken strands that slightly shimmered   
in the light cast through the window. She exuded an aura of peace and   
gentle loving care even as she lay there, dead to the world.  
  
She was so much more than just a masterpiece, she was Kasumi. She   
was the woman that made sure that the little things were done. She was   
the one that made sure that another never needed that which she could   
provide. She gave, unconditionally, never asking for more than the love   
of her family. Yes, she was so much more than a simple piece of   
artwork.  
  
She was the woman that he loved.  
  
And, damn the fates, he had almost lost her, *had* lost her, no more   
than an hour ago. If it had not been for the intrevention of her mother   
and the one once known as Death she would not be here now, sleeping but   
still alive. She would be sleeping a totally different type of slumber,   
the rest that never ends.  
  
The thought of what he had done to be reunited with her, save her   
life from herself, weighed heavily upon his soul. To return to the   
mortal realm he had been forced to take the mantle of the one who made   
it his job of making sure peiople were dead in the end. Even the   
comforting thought that he had not to do a thing to cause this did not   
alleviate the cold chill of knowing, for a fact, that his very   
existance alowed things to live and die.  
  
But... everything has an end. And Death would continue, even if he   
no longer bore the mantle of authority. People would continue to live,   
and die, as they had done since the beginning of time and even he, the   
new respresentative of that final, unescapable fact of nature, could   
not put a stop to that.  
  
And yet here he was, a Kami on the mortal plane, watching over the   
one that he loves. The incarnation of Death, thinking about bringing   
life to a woman's heart. A woman like no other, to be sure. To catch   
the eye of the past Death the case had to be impressive. Luck was, for   
once, on his side in this.  
  
Ranma Saotome was dead, but the man who loved Kasumi Tendo lived   
again.  
  
***  
  
Cologne looked once again at the pale steed of Death. His presence   
puzzled her slightly, for the horse was never without it's owner, and   
no other being could tame death's horse. But, if the horse was there,   
then where was Death?  
  
Where, indeed?  
  
***  
  
Kasumi awoke slowly, small parts of her mind becoming aware one at a   
time in slow procession. The act of waking was slow and halting for   
her, but the realization of how slow it was had not itself awoken yet.   
Seconds stretched out into mellinnia as her senses came on line one   
after another.  
  
Taste.  
  
She hadn't managed to brush her teeth yet that morning, and the   
slightly off taste of her own mouth felt somewhat wrong to her, causing   
her subconscious note that maybe she should get up and do so.  
  
Smell.  
  
The familiar scent of her room, calming and comforting in it's   
steady influence. But hovering on the edges was another scent, much   
reminding her of Ranma's body after he had practiced his Art. A strong   
smell, but weak enough to be cloying. Not an unpleasent aroma, but   
something that comforted her on a deep and primal level.  
  
Touch.  
  
She was warm, and safe, laying in her bed. Somehow she knew that   
somebody had put her there, which was indicated by the way that the   
blankets lie upon her nightgown-clad form. There was something pressing   
down on the outer side of her bed, something heavy that shifted   
slightly. For some reason she was not alarmed by that fact, but took it   
for granted.  
  
Hearing.  
  
The sound of her own breathing was echoed softly by the breathing of   
another. By the sound of it the person was the same one that was   
sitting on the edge of her bed. Her lower mind catalogued the tone and   
pitch of the breathing, and was happy at it's results.  
  
Sight.  
  
She slowly blinked open her eyes, the bright light that came from   
her window partially cut into by a dark shape. The shape shifted a   
little, causing the bed to move with it. A siloette of a pigtail could   
be seen resting over one of their shoulders, somehow making her want to   
reach out and put it back in place.  
  
"Ranma?" she asked weakly.  
  
"It's me, Kasumi-chan," he said in his strong, yet gentle voice.  
  
"Oh good... I thought you were..."  
  
"I was, but I came back to be with you," he replied to her   
unfinished statement. "I won't let anything ever stop me from being   
with you, Kasumi-chan."  
  
"How did you come back?" she askied, still waking up.  
  
"I took the mantle of an occupation as old as time, one which allows   
the bearer to go about as they see fit. It's also the only way one   
*can* come back from the dead," he replied. "I talked with you mother."  
  
That *last* bit woke her up quite rapidly, causing her to sit up   
quickly, though she regreted it a moment later as her head complained   
the sudden movement, still not recuperated fro the eariler stress. She   
moaned and reached her delicate hands to her head, starting to fall   
back into her pillows again.  
  
Her descent was halted by a pair of warm hands that reached out and   
cradled her shoulders gently, holding her up and supporting her as her   
body calmed down. A low moan came from her throat, causing Ranma to   
lean his head closer to hers.  
  
"Kasumi-chan? Are you okay?" he asked, his voice heavy with worry.  
  
"I... I'm fine, Ran-chan," she said shakily. "You said that you...   
you saw my mother?"  
  
Ranma heard the plaintive tone in her voice, a plea that called out   
to his heart in a way that he had never before experienced. The tone in   
her voice was both hopeful, and frightened, at the same moment. The way   
that she looked into his soul with her beautiful misty gray eyes spoke   
more than words could ever tell.  
  
"Y... yes..." he replied, nervous. "Kimiko-san greeted me after I   
died and had a talk with me. She wanted me to go back to be with you.   
She didn't want you to be alone. She... she said that I was a man worth   
living an entire life with. I think... I think that she doesn't want to   
see you again too soon, at least not on a permanent basis."  
  
Kasumi chuckle-sobbed, then buried her face into his shoulder,   
weeping in sorrow at the wounds opened up once again to bleed afresh.   
Wounds of the emotional body that had never been able to fully heal   
but, like a badly-set bone, had to be broken open again to heal   
properly. With Ranma there for her this time she could finally have a   
chance to be whole again, be Kasumi for Kasumi, not Kasumi for the   
Home.  
  
Ranma wrapped his arms around her tightly, letting the warmth of his   
body soak into her as he rocked back and forth slowly, comforting the   
distraught lady. Dispite the fact that she was slightly taller than he   
when standing her head was cradled beneath his chin, allowing him to   
breathe in the clean scent of her hair as she mourned for a mother lost   
years ago, and for the life that she had lost and now, maybe, had   
regained.  
  
***  
  
Cologne stretched her spiritual senses to the utmost, trying to   
pin-point the location of the one that she knew, for as fact, was   
nearby. The dragon lines of Chi flowed like rivers through the air and   
earth, tracing their paths back and forth, colliding with each other,   
flowing in and out of reality. Only her sharp senses noted the focus   
for the energies, a focus that was well hidden by the forces of nature,   
as it was part of Nature itself.  
  
She faded from the morbid scene in the back yard, leaping up the   
stairs atop her gnarled staff, her silver hair flowing behind her. She   
made her way down the hall, passing the guest rooms and the bedrooms of   
the two younger Tendo girls before she came to a stop before the door   
of the eldest daughter's chambers.  
  
As Cologne silently stood there she could hear sobbing from inside,   
indicating that yes indeed the girl was in the room and, presently,   
alive. Her senses picked up the facts that she could not tell from   
afar. Death was, at the moment, holding the girls in it's arms, trying   
to comfort her.  
  
She reached out and quietly opened the door, body tense for action,   
Chi ready for both defence and offense. Innumerable fighting techniques   
floated through her mind as she prepared herself for any and all   
possibilities. All, that is, except for one.  
  
"Ranma?" Cologne asked, her eyes widening.  
  
***  
  
Ranma tensed when he heard his voice spoken. His senses stretched   
out, reading the aura of the one who had spoken, confirming that which   
his ears had told him. A small part of his mind told him that the old   
woman was well past due for death, but he ignored it for the moment.  
  
"Yes, elder?" he asked, not moving from his position.  
  
"Is that not your body down there?" Cologne asked him bluntly.  
  
"That is the body fo Ranma Saotome, who killed himself to regain   
honor early this morning, yes," Ranma replied. "But it is not my body."  
  
Cologne pogoed over to the side of the bed, coming into his point of   
view.  
  
"Well well, sonny boy, I never knew you had it in you to gain the   
direct attention of Death, let alone make him give his station to you   
just so that you can walk the mortal realm," Cologne said with a wry   
grin.  
  
Kasumi tensed in his arms, shrinking slightly at his touch for a   
moment, and turned her head up to look into his eyes. Her own were, for   
the moment, filled with fear and shock. Her jaw worked as she   
desperately tried to form the words that were running rampantly through   
her mind.  
  
"Ranma?" she asked in a quavering vocie. "Death? You?"  
  
"Shh... it's okay Kasumi," he said, trying to calm the distraught   
girl down. "I'm here because I love you, and that's all that matters to   
me. You know that I would never allow anything bad happen to you, and   
now I have the ability to make sure that nothing ever does."  
  
"But... Death?"  
  
"It's a title, Kasumi," he said. "I don't ferry the souls, I don't   
even take them. People die when it's their time, and I still don't have   
any part in it. Don't worry."  
  
She shivvered slightly, looking into his eyes to reassure herself   
that he was still Ranma, *her* Ranma, and not some monster from beyond   
here to play with her soul. The deep blue of his eyes reflected in the   
back of her mind, giving credence to his statement.  
  
She understood, suddenly, what had been given up for him to be with   
her. He had taken his own life and then, to save hers, had given up his   
chance to stay in the afterlife. He had sacrificed so much, just so   
that he could be there for her, as she had once been there for him.  
  
"Oh, Ranma..." she said, her voice full of emotion.  
  
"Well well, it seems that things will ever be interesting around   
you, Ranma," Cologne said with a chuckle. "And, if I'm not mistaken, my   
great-granddaughter doesn't have a chance now. Funny, I always thought   
that it would be Akane that you fell in love with in the end. Even the   
wize can be blind at times."  
  
Ranma looked over at her for a moment, a particular glint in his   
eyes.  
  
"If any harm comes to Kasumi because of you I guarantee that I will   
*personally* reap your soul, *elder*," he warned.  
  
Cologne merely shook her head, trying to ignore the cold chill that   
had made it's way up her spine at his words. Words spoken in love and   
rage, love for Kasumi, rage that anyone would try to harm her. He was   
the perfect defender, the perfect warrior. After all, how can you kill   
Death if he does not allow you to?  
  
"Ha, this puts a whole new perspective on things, now doesn't it?"   
she stated. "But now what are you going to say to the people downstairs   
that have been crying over your dead body?"  
  
Ranma blinked at that, for he had not yet given any thought on the   
subject. He had been much too busy worrying about the woman that he   
loved, the woman that loved him in return.  
  
BAMF!  
  
Suddenly Kasumi found her arms around one Ranko Tendo, 'cousin' of   
the Tendo girls. Both she and Cologne blinked at the sudden waterless   
transformation. Kasumi blushed as she found a particular part of her   
anatomy rubbing against a particular part of 'Ranko's' anatomy.  
  
"Oh... Oh my..." she stated succinctly.  
  
"Um..." Ranma said, her eyes crossing for a moment.  
  
Cologne laughed heartily at the sight of the new Death being fazed   
by such a small thing as unexpectedly having her breasts rubbed against   
another's. Why, she hadn't had that much entertainment since the time   
Ranma had been fighting for the phoenix pill and had been working   
non-stop as her waitress!  
  
***  
  
After the two 'girls' regained their composure they, and Cologne,   
sat on Kasumi's bed disgussing the matter at hand. KAsumi and   
Ranma-chan sat side-by-side, Ranma's arm thrown over the taller girl's   
shoulders in a loving, if awkward, embrace. Kasumi had a troubled look   
on her face as she too contemplated their 'problem'.  
  
"So, you don't know what to tell them?" Cologne asked.  
  
"No," Ranma-chan replied sullenly, looking at her feet.  
  
"Why not the truth?" Kasumi asked.  
  
"Oh, yeah, sure... 'Hi guys, guess what, I'm the incarnation of   
Death now, cool, huh?'. That'll work..." Ramna-chan said sarcastically.  
  
"Why not?" Cologne asked with a smirk.  
  
"Huh?" the two girls asked in unison, looking to the old woman with   
identical looks of confusion.  
  
"I said, why not?" Cologne repeated. "Everybody here is used to the   
strange and the supernatural happening on a regular basis, so why not   
tell them the truth?"  
  
"You're insane," Ranma-chan said calmly.  
  
"But you might also be genius," Kasumi stated with a small smile.  
  
"What?" Ranma-chan asked her.  
  
"Why not tell them the truth? It wouldn't seem any wierder as a boy   
that turns into a girl with a splash of water that is constantly forced   
to free my little sister from magical princes who had rescently killed   
a Kami," the older girl explained.  
  
"Y-you're serious, aren't you?"  
  
Kasumi nodded, then leaned in to awkwardly peck the redhead on the   
cheek. Both of the girls blushed furiously, looking around nervously as   
Cologne just sat there, highly entertained.  
  
BAMF!  
  
"Again?"  
  
***  
  
Up in heaven a certain scotsman is currently rolling on the floor,   
laughing his damn fool head off. The angels around him avert their eyes   
quickly as his kilt flips up proving, once again, that scotsmen don't   
wear *anything* beneath their kilts.  
  
"Wa-hahahahaha! I haven't had this much... this much fun in   
centuries! Wa-hahahahahahaha!" said the Scotsman. "Keying his curse was   
genius! Pure genius! Wa-hahaha! Curse! No water! He-he... Thought!   
Mwa-hahahahahahahahaha!"  
  
He rolled over on his back, kicking his legs in the air, his face   
gone red from the effort of loud, boistrous humor.  
  
"I *definitely* could have gone without seeing that," said one Angel   
to the other.  
  
"I would prefer seeing nothing for a full decade to seeing that   
again," replied the other angel, agreeing whole-heartedly.  
  
As a footnote both angels were currently blushing curiously, their   
beautiful features aflush with red. It might also be noted that their   
heart rate more than doubled, and their breathing was currently at an   
all time high, and they're from the warrior-madien class. They work out   
*hard*.  
  
"Definitely."  
  
"Definitely."  
  
Both were thinking the same thing.  
  
*Oh... *my*...*  
  
***  
  
Ranma steeled himself as they prepared to leave Kasumi's room. He   
nervously checked his black silk shirt and kung fu pants for lint,   
making sure that his leather bracers were on straight in the process.   
His cloak was flipped back over his shoulders, hiding his form frim   
view. A quick flip of the hood disguised his features, and he willed   
the 'skeleton effect' into being, changing his apparent form into,   
well, a bleached white skeleton.  
  
"Oh my, that's very imressive Ranma," Kasumi said, taking a   
half-step back.  
  
Cologne nodded, silently noting that his cloak his him from casual   
view. Those not actively aware of his presence could not, or rather   
*would* not, see him. Such was the nature of his namesake that it   
needed to be unseen and unnoticed in the most rigourous of inspections.   
A slight shadow hugged his form for a moment, but disappeared as he   
willed it away, making himself fully visible.  
  
"Very impressive," Cologne agreed.  
  
"Um... thanks..." Ranam replied from his hood, his voice distorted   
by the very nature of his office.  
  
Cologne laughed in muted glee at Ranma's shy and flustered state. A   
lovesick Ranma was something that she would have happily given a few   
martial arts secrets away to see.  
  
"Well now, it's not every day that Death comes knocking at one's   
bedroom door, so let's not keep the audience waiting. We stil have come   
explaining to do, and the day is not getting any longer," Cologne   
stated, opening the door for them.  
  
With a quick glance at Kasumi 'Death' walked through the door,   
leading the way down the hallway. his hidden slippered feet made nary a   
sound on the hard wooden floor, a sign of both his training, and his   
now suparnatural origin. The air turned cold on contact with his cloak,   
having been parted with it's warmth, much like what happened with the   
technique known as the soul of ice.  
  
Kasumi shivvered in the unnatural cold, only taking refuge in the   
fact that it was Ranma, *her* Ranma, that was doing this, and not some   
supernatural beast come to take her. With Ranma there for her she   
needed not worry about such things, for she trusted him as he trusted   
she.  
  
She rubbed her dainty hands on her arms, warming them with the   
friction of her dress on the flesh beneath, as she had changed eariler   
into more sutible clothes. Her breath fogged in the air, as did   
Cologne's, creating swirling coulds of mist that parted as they walked   
past.  
  
Death paused at the top of the stairs and looked back at his   
following, his skull face somehow conveying nervousness, it's empty   
eyes imploring Kasumi silently for words of encouragement. His bony   
hand trembled as he placed it on the top of the rail, landing with a   
muted click of bone on wood.  
  
"Don't worry, Ranma," Kasumi said, smiling warmly even though the   
air was chilled. "Everything will be all right. I trust in you."  
  
"Thank you, Kasumi-chan," Death replied. "I love you..."  
  
"I... I love you to, Ran-chan," Kasumi said, her smile heating up   
the air slightly.  
  
He smiled back, somehow showing his thanks for her kind words. She   
walked over to him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder in   
encouragement, bowing her head slightly and looking into the hallow   
sockets that she knew, in reality, held his soulful blue eyes.  
  
"Let's do this."  
  
"All right, Kasumi-chan."  
  
***  
  
  
  
Well now, a relationship filling out in a few short minutes. Damn   
but I'm making them work *quick*. But hey, true love can do that   
sometimes.  
  
Thanks for reading this far, I really mean it.  
  
C&C welcome, Flames will be eaten without salt.  
  
gryphon_aerie@msn.com  
  
This is Gryphon Aerie, signing off...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
^_^; 


	4. Chp 04

On a Pale Mustang  
By: Gryphon Aerie  
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction  
  
Disclaimers:  
Ranma is owned by Rumiko Takahashi  
And yes, 'On a Pale Horse' *is* written by Piers Anthony, though   
this story is only LOOSELY associated with that grand work because   
Death was killed for Ranma to become Death himself. You will (probably)   
not be seeing ANY of the characters from that book.  
That is all  
  
  
  
Chapter 04  
  
  
  
***  
  
Ranma's slippered feet of bone brought him slowly down the stairs of   
the Tendo home. His black cloak billowed slightly in a nonexistent   
breeze as he silently reached the bottom step.  
  
With a heavy sigh he looked back up the stairs to his new-found   
love. Kasumi looked at him lovingly, silently giving him her full   
support. Her misty gray eyes glowed with the love that she held for the   
new incarnation of Death, and the knowledge that that love was finally   
returned in full.  
  
He drummed his finger bones on the bottom end of the rail and looked   
at Cologne. The old woman looked back at him, her eyes shining with   
wisdom and knowledge as one of three hundred and some years of age is   
wont. She nodded to him once, also giving him her support.  
  
With a deep breath he walked along the hallway and into view of the   
chaos nearby, his cloak rustling and billowing, chilling the air with   
his new, supernatural presence. For his own comfort he raised the scare   
value of his station, causing all those present to look over at him as   
one.  
  
All, that is, except for his one-time fiancee. Akane was bust   
beating the lifeless corpse of what had once been Ranma Saotome,   
yelling curses and profanity of the likes of which could put a pirate   
off their lunch.  
  
And, for being one of the most powerful of the Kami, he was a loss   
for words.  
  
***  
  
Everybody that noticed the new apparition froze as the part of the   
mind which tells us to be afraid of what lurks in the dark told them   
that *this* was what they should really fear. A collective chill went   
up their backs as the black cloak of the specter of death billowed and   
writhed around Him, his skull-like visage peeking from behind his cowl.  
  
Nobody noticed, yet, the two people that had followed Him.  
  
"Um... Hi..." said Death.  
  
Surprisingly enough, the first person to act was none other than   
Genma. Though, perhaps we shouldn't be really surprised. He took one   
look at Death, then another at his dead son, and did what he was best   
at...  
  
"Waaaah! Oh please Master! Please give me back my ungrateful son! I   
wanted nothing more than to life a long happy life at his expense and   
now... and now he's GONE!"  
  
Yes, he groveled.  
  
It was in his opinion than anything that he couldn't throw his   
son--or part thereof--at to solve, could be instead solved by his most   
deadly martial arts technique. The Crouch of the Wild Tiger!  
  
To bad for him he never had a chance... Because his wife, Nodoka,   
was the next to act.  
  
"WHAT?!" Nodoka shouted at him, awaking from her shock at his words.  
  
After all, it's bad enough that her son, and only child, had been   
taken away from her for ten years, only to be returned to her arms cold   
and dead... No, to make matters worse her 'husband', who she just now   
realized was there, had stated that he had wanted nothing more than to   
leech of her only child! And not only that, he did so no less than ten   
feet from the newly deceased!  
  
"GENMA NO BAKA!" she shouted, reaching for her Katana.  
  
If she had her way, another Saotome life would be taken that day.  
  
Genma, true to form, ran for the nearest escape route, loosing his   
furious wife quite readily. Nodoka, once again descending to tears,   
fell to her knees beside the spatula-clad chef.  
  
And then, Akane turned her attention from the battered corpse of her   
*prize*, turning her gaze to the nearest target that showed itself. In   
her rage she identified the cloaked figure as being the cause for all   
of this, and whipped out her trusty mallet. Dashing forward she brought   
the mallet back like a professional batter, and swung with all her   
might.  
  
WHUMPH!  
  
She blinked at the unmoved figure, and then looked to its face. With   
a yelp she stumbled back, letting the heavy mallet to fall from her   
slack grasp. In the process she tripped over her father, his tears   
soaking her pajamas quite readily.  
  
***  
  
As Akane swung at him with her mallet Ranma felt two conflicting   
sets of instincts. The old set told him to flinch, and accept the   
pounding. The new set told him to reach out and grab her soul with his   
bony hands, bringing her to the brink of death and returning her as a   
lesson not to mess with him. He ignored both, and was surprised when he   
barely felt the blow.  
  
Looking down slightly at the crouched girl he wondered just how he   
had stayed motionless after a blow that, before he had died, would have   
sent him into lower earth orbit. As Akane stumbled back, seeing his   
visage, he came to the ready conclusion that it was due to his cloak,   
his mantle of office.  
  
He then swept his eyes across the yard, and what was there to see.  
  
His mother, sitting beside a frozen Ukyo. Soun on his knees, still   
crying and oblivious to what else was going on around him. Nabiki,   
shocked but almost ready to face the new reality that had been shown   
her that morning before he had come out. His father... gone, and   
probably halfway to the nearest station for a 'training trip' by now,   
was his guess. P-chan was... on the floor and staring at him, his   
little piggy mind working overtime.  
  
"BWEEEEE!"  
  
The little porcine missile launched itself at Ranma, intent on doing   
what damage he could to the one who had hurt Akane. He struck Ranma's   
ankle with his mouth agape, and clamped onto the cloth-covered bones   
there. With a quick kick of his foot the new Death launched the pig to   
its master, causing it to land directly in Akane's lap with a soft   
whoosh of lost breath.  
  
***  
  
Nodoka looked at the cloaked figure, intuitively knowing that it was   
Death. Death, which had claimed her son before she could ever get to   
know him. Death, the only one who could allow her to see her son   
again...  
  
"Where is he?" Nodoka asked Death. "Where is my son..."  
  
Death looked at her, it's skull face somehow conveying nervousness.  
  
"M-mom?" Death asked, it's voice low and whispered.  
  
Everybody *stared* at death upon hearing him call Nodoka 'mom'.   
During their pause Death reached a single hand up to it's hood, pulling   
it back from it's skull to reveal...  
  
Nodoka fainted.  
  
***  
  
"RANMA?!" came the unanimous cry from his audience.  
  
"Uh... yeah..." he replied. "I can explain!"  
  
"B-but, you're *dead*!" Ukyo stated.  
  
"Yeah Ranma. That *is* your body, isn't it?" Nabiki asked, looking   
at the corpse questioningly.  
  
Soun, still oblivious.  
  
"Um... Yeah, I died... kinda..." Ranma said, looking at his own body   
for the first time.  
  
Things had happened a little quickly, even for a world-class martial   
artist, and the fact hadn't quite had enough time to sink in before.   
Seeing his own body laying in the snow, a pool of it's own blood nearby   
where it had been kicked from, was almost too much for him. Kasumi's   
comforting presence as she walked up beside him calmed him down,   
allowing him to once again think clearly.  
  
"But... umm... I came back to save Kasumi here... And... Well..." he   
shifted his weight from foot to foot, and scratched the base of his   
pigtail. "I'm Death... Sorry about this..."  
  
BAMF!  
  
"Aw not *again*!" said Death-chan.  
  
Snow began to fall on the group as what Ranma had just said worked   
it's way slowly though their heads. The white flakes stuck to the   
ground, beginning to slowly erase the vivid crimson of his death, once   
again turning the world pure. Soun's twin water fountains of tears   
froze in mid-air for no immediately obvious reason, hanging suspended   
like ice-sculptures.  
  
And then Kasumi placed an arm over Ranma-chan's shoulders.  
  
Akane's eye twitched, and her mind worked in the same manner in   
which it had for so many years. A cycle, a continuous unbroken circle,   
such the likes of which that the Kuno family would be proud to be a   
part of.  
  
Ranma dead--Came back for Kasumi--Ranma not bowing and scraping to   
Akane--Came back for Kasumi--Ranma not doting on Akane--Came back for   
Kasumi--Pervert--Baka--Came back for Kasumi--Baka--Did not come back   
for Akane--BAKA--Came back for Kasumi--Ranma no...  
  
"BAKA!"  
  
***  
  
Nodoka awoke at a loud noise, wondering what it had been, and also   
wondering about the horrid dream she just had. Her son was dead at his   
own hands, and Death had come calling her his mother. Akane, little   
Akane-chan, had been beating on her son's dead corpse. And Death had...   
called... her... mother?  
  
She stirred, and found that she was definitely *not* in her bed. For   
one, her bed was not this hard, nor nearly as cold or damp.  
  
Blinking her eyes open she first saw her son's dead body laying   
beaten on the ground, slowly being covered by snow. Then she saw Akane   
leaping at a black-cloaked figure, next to which stood Kasumi.  
  
When she saw who the cloaked figure was her heart leapt in her   
chest, then leapt to her throat.  
  
"R-Ranma?" she whispered, disbelieving her own eyes.  
  
***  
  
"HOW *DARE* YOU! YOU'RE MINE! GET IT?! MINE! I *OWN* YOU!   
RAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHH!!!" Akane stated eloquently as she came at him,   
swinging her fists in fury.  
  
(AN: Fists in Fury--Fists of Fury... hmm... nope, no parallel)  
  
Ranma merely stood there, taking the sledgehammer blows on his   
protective cloak, for once not bothered that it was cheating. Fighting   
against Akane had *never* been a challenge, at least when she herself   
didn't have mystical aid like the Battle Doji. He doubted not that his   
cloak could take a bullet without harm, but *he* didn't want to try it.  
  
Furious that her blows had no effect on the new Death Akane turned   
her blows to an easier target, who was standing right beside him. A   
perfect target for her anger and fury. The *servant* of the home, who   
had *dared* to take something that belonged to *her*!  
  
The moment that the first blow struck Kasumi Akane cut off any and   
all chances of a peaceful relationship with Ranma. At that point he   
knew, for a fact, that he could *never* love her, even ignoring the   
fact that he loved another.  
  
For a martial artist to strike a non-combatant is to break the very   
code and ethos that they lived by. To strike the defenseless, with   
intent to harm, is to show just how dishonorable that person is. But,   
as we all know, Akane is *no* martial artist.  
  
Kasumi fell back from a strike to the head, yelping in pain and   
shock. She landed to the floor of the porch with a thud, and curled up   
in a ball, shivering. Akane reared back a leg to kick her prone sister,   
and...  
  
Found herself flying across the yard, into the concrete wall. The   
force of her impact caused a spider web fracture in the solid material.   
The air whuffed out of her lungs, and stars filled her vision as she   
fell limply to the ground.  
  
Bamf!  
  
A now male Ranma stalked towards her, his eyes changing from their   
deep blue to an ominous black. His steps were heavy, thumping on the   
ground, letting her *know* that he was coming. His battle aura sprang   
up, casting a shadow around him that writhed like a thousand damned   
souls.  
  
He spoke calmly, sending a chill through those who heard his words.  
  
"If you *ever* try to harm Kasumi again... I don't care if you're a   
girl... I don't care if you *used* to be a fiancee for the *late* Ranma   
Saotome... I don't care of Kami-sama himself guards over you... I...   
WILL... KILL... YOU..." he stated, his aura flickering with each and   
every word.  
  
"I *own* you..." Akane gasped out, looking furiously up into his   
eyes.  
  
"No, you *never* owned me... And you never will," he replied with a   
sneer.  
  
And, with that, he turned around and walked over to Kasumi's side.  
  
***  
  
Akane's little dream world was crumbling around her as she tried   
desperately to gather all the pieces into her greedy claws once again.   
But, without the keystone, her carefully balanced empire was turning to   
dust, rotting fetidly, leaving nothing more than a stain on everybody's   
memories.  
  
Tears of anger, hate, and sorrow filed her eyes as she watched *her*   
fiancee kneel beside the lowly *servant woman*, giving care and   
protection to one who was, in Akane's book, below contempt.  
  
***  
  
(AN: What, you *don't* think that Akane's mind works that way?)  
  
***  
  
"Hey Kasumi-chan... you okay?" Ranma asked as he kneeled down beside   
her, placing a hand on her shaking shoulder.  
  
A low moan was his only answer as he stretched his senses out,   
searching for any harm that had come to her. He felt that, physically,   
she had nothing more than a black eye and a headache. However,   
emotionally...  
  
The betrayal, accusations, and assault from her little sister, who   
had been like a daughter to her, was a would that was open and   
bleeding. Her heart, still mending from the loss of her mother, had   
been broken again.  
  
Ranma gathered her up into his arms and, sparing a single   
hate-filled glare for Akane, stalked back into the house, ignoring all   
others. Her shivering form lay cradled against his chest, her tears   
soaking his silk shirt for the second time that morning as he walked   
into the living room.  
  
He noticed that a futon mattress had just been placed on the floor,   
heavy blankets set beside it, and looked over at Cologne in thanks.   
With as much gentleness as he could summon he lay the weeping Kasumi   
down, and covered her with blankets. Then, with that done, he sat down   
with a heavy thump.  
  
***  
  
Ryoga raged that Ranma would *dare* strike Akane. His little porcine   
aura was wreathed in a crimson aura, his eyes glowing a deep red as he   
glared at his nemesis. He would find a way to defeat Ranma, then he   
would make Ranma *pay* for what he had done. He didn't care if he had   
to sign a deal with the devil himself if it let him lay Ranma down in   
an early grave.  
  
Of course, he completely ignored the fact that Ranma had laid   
*himself* down in an early grave, such is his modus operandi. Such   
*small* matters need not be worried about when *vengeance* was on the   
line.  
  
With a snort he ran off, looking for hot water and his pack.  
  
***  
  
Nodoka got up and walked into the house, her steps slow and   
hesitant. She took comfort in the family's honor blade which rested   
against her back, and in the sheathed blade held limply in her left   
hand. She came to a halt as she stood by her son's side.  
  
"R-Ranma?" she asked.  
  
His head slowly turned, revealing sorrow-filed eyes of deepest blue.   
She knew those eyes, she knew them well, and the sadness contained   
within broke her mother's heart. The wakizashi fell from the left hand   
as she went to her knees, wrapping him up in her arms for the first   
time.  
  
***  
  
Soun, still oblivious, sat there in the yard, his ice-sculptured   
hanging from his face, touching down on puddles of ice upon the snow   
covered ground. The clouds above felt it necessary to snow a little   
harder, as it couldn't rain at these temperatures. Soon enough the   
Tendo patriarch was covered in a light envelope of white.  
  
He still didn't move as other things happened.  
  
***  
  
Ukyo, sparing a glare for Akane, stood up and walked into the house.   
She didn't know exactly what was going on, but she felt as if Ranma   
needed all the support he could get at the moment. She only hoped that   
he accepted her as a friend.  
  
***  
  
Akane glared back at another one of those *bitches* that had taken   
*her* Ranma away from her, planning all kinds of tortures. Perhaps she   
would make them all cookies? Yes, that sounded just about right.  
  
Death's steed looked over at Akane as she began to do a maniacal   
chuckle that would put shame to Happosai's worst. It flicked its ears   
in irritation, and then chose to ignore her. That is unless, of course,   
she tried once again to get near his master.  
  
His eyes burned with extra intensity at that thought.  
  
***  
  
Kasumi woke up for the third time that day, her head throbbing in   
pain. She blinked her eyes open to see Ranma's mother, holding onto her   
love, tears tracing down the woman's face. Ranma looked at her, his   
eyes clearing of some of their sorrow, which was replaced with equal   
parts of joy and relief. He reached out his free hand and grasped her   
own, the warmth of the contact heating her wounded heart.  
  
A faint smile traced her face. A *true* smile, not the smile that   
she had been giving for so many years, forcing onto her face. The masks   
that we must wear.  
  
"Are you okay, Kasumi-chan?" he asked her, his voice filled with   
concern.  
  
"No," she replied. "But I will be..."  
  
"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" came another voice.  
  
Those present looked over as Ukyo walked in slowly, bowed slightly,   
an imploring look on her face. Her hair hung partially over her right   
shoulder, having been caught there by the handle of her battle spatula,   
and her eyes were red from earlier tears.  
  
"Please... come in..." Kasumi said, greeting the chef.  
  
"Thanks," Ukyo replied, walking over. "So Ranma... you died?"  
  
"Yeah... but I got better..." Ranma said calmly, looking lovingly   
over at Kasumi. "I found out that there's still something, or   
*someone*, to live for."  
  
Kasumi did him the honor of blushing, and Ukyo smiled at her   
reaction. She knew that she had lost his heart, but she would have   
never guessed who ended up catching it. For Ranma to admit his feelings   
like that meant that he *had* to love the lucky girl.  
  
"So, you finally understand why all of us were after him, huh?" Ukyo   
asked her.  
  
"Oh, I knew for a while... it's just..." Kasumi replied hesitantly.  
  
"Yeah... you don't have to say a single thing Sugar, I know," Ukyo   
said with a smile. "I promise not to wreck *this* wedding. I wouldn't   
miss it for all the okonomiyaki sauce in Japan."  
  
Kasumi smiled back at her, giving Ranma's hand a gentle squeeze, and   
Nodoka chose that moment to compose herself. Brushing off her Gi she   
situated herself on the floor, sitting regally at her newly found son's   
side.  
  
"I believe that we have a few questions that should be answered,"   
Nodoka stated, looking to each person in turn. "And some proper   
introductions."  
  
Cologne nodded, and chose to introduce herself first.  
  
"I am Nyu Ku Lon, elder matriarch of the Joketsuzoku Amazons of   
China. You may call me Cologne, child." Cologne stated with a slight   
bow to the Saotome matriarch.  
  
"I'm Ukyo, Ranma's friend, and the best okonomiyaki chef in Japan,"   
Ukyo stated truthfully.  
  
"I'm Kasumi Tendo, eldest daughter of Kimiko and Soun Tendo, and the   
guardian of the Wa of our home," Kasumi said, sitting up.  
  
Everybody looked at Ranma.  
  
"Um... I'm Death, but I used to be Ranma Saotome before I, eh,   
died..." Ranma said nervously.  
  
"And I am Nodoka Saotome, matriarch of the Saotome family, heir to   
the Saotome fortune, and wielder of the Saotome honor blade. I am also   
Ranma's mother," Nodoka said with pride. "And now that that's out of   
the way, I would like my son to tell us all exactly what has happened   
here, and how he is quite obviously back from the dead.  
  
Everybody looked at Ranma once again.  
  
***  
  
  
  
And so, I will be cruel and end this chapter here.  
  
Thanks to all who reviewed this story, and double thanks to those   
who sent me E-mail (especially the one known as Darkreign, who asked if   
he could post this story in the Church of Kasumi and Ranma). As this is   
my first real attempt at writing a FanFic I would greatly appreciate   
any input you, the people, feel fit to give me.  
  
As always, Flames will be eaten without salt.  
  
gryphon_aerie@msn.com  
  
This is Gryphon Aerie, signing off...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
^_^; 


	5. Chp 05

On a Pale Mustang  
By: Gryphon Aerie  
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction  
  
Disclaimers:  
Ranma is owned by Rumiko Takahashi  
And yes, 'On a Pale Horse' *is* written by Piers Anthony, though   
this story is only LOOSELY associated with that grand work because   
Death was killed for Ranma to become Death himself. You will (probably)   
not be seeing ANY of the characters from that book. (Of course, I won't   
make any promises...)  
That is all  
  
  
  
Chapter 05  
  
  
  
***  
  
"What?" he asked, confused slightly as everybody stared at him.  
  
"Ranma, I think that they want to know what's going on," Kasumi   
stated calmly.  
  
"Oh..." he said, then scratched the back of his head nervously.  
  
That said and done he sat there for a moment collecting his   
thoughts. He rarely got the time to do that, despite occasional   
attempts. Genma had never let him along for long during their training   
trip, and he hadn't really gotten much more time to himself during his   
stay in Nerima. In fact, the only time that he'd really gotten the   
chance to really *ponder* was when he was planning his own suicide. And   
so...  
  
"Well, I committed seppuku to regain the Clan honor this morning,   
figuring that that's the only way we could all get outta this mess," he   
began. "But when I died I found myself... *somewhere*... and met   
Kasumi-chan's mom. We talked for a moment, and I realized that I, eh...   
Ilovekasumi... But her mom told me that Kasumi here was about to join   
me and, well... one thing led to another, and then Death came along,   
and he had me kill him, and now I'm Death..."  
  
Everyone there blinked once, then twice.  
  
"Excuse me Ranma-honey, cut can ya put that past us a little bit   
slower?" Ukyo asked, to which his mother agreed.  
  
And so, with a deep breath, and a glance at Kasumi, he once again   
explained what had happened. This caused Ukyo and Nodoka to pause in   
shock, while Cologne merely nodded to herself as if he was only   
confirming her suspicions.  
  
"Well, I think that *that* settles some of your problems, son, but   
what now?" Nodoka asked.  
  
"Yeah Ranma, it's not like you can just make your body disappear. I   
mean, you will at least have some explaining to do to the police," Ukyo   
stated.  
  
Ranma sighed.  
  
"It's not as if they gave me a manual to go with the job or   
anything," stated Death.  
  
BAMF!  
  
Ranma-chan scowled at nothing in particular as she changed once   
again. Nodoka blink-blinked, seeing her son turn into the one she had   
known only as 'Ranko Tendo', cousin to the Tendo girls. Her agile mind   
went to work, and soon came up with a conclusion.  
  
"Ranma dear, is there something else you have neglected to tell me?"  
  
"Well... there was Jusenkyo..." Ranma-chan muttered.  
  
***  
  
Shampoo looked around the restaurant, a look of deep concentration   
on her face. Moose, currently a duck in a small cage, grumbled to   
himself quietly in his corner as she walked by. She had other things on   
her mind right then, and hadn't bothered to change him back to human   
form.  
  
"Where great-grandmother?" Shampoo asked herself.  
  
For indeed, Cologne had not stopped to inform Shampoo where she had   
been going that morning, as the girl was not even awake yet.   
Practically nobody had been awake yet, in fact. And so, Shampoo had   
absolutely no idea where her great-grandmother was. But she could make   
an educated guess. After all, she isn't stupid.  
  
"Shampoo know! Shampoo go to Ranma, Shampoo find Great-grandmother!"   
Shampoo realized with a beaming smile.  
  
And with that, she bounced out of the Neko Haten, completely   
forgetting a certain duck.  
  
"Quack quack quack QUACK quack-quack..." Moose said.  
  
Roughly translated: 'Curse that Saotome! You will NEVER have my   
Shampoo!'  
  
***  
  
"... So you used to change into a girl when splashed with cold   
water, and because of that Genma told you that I would kill you because   
you weren't manly?" Nodoka asked.  
  
"Yeah, that's pretty much it," Ranma (he had changed back during the   
conversation) stated.  
  
"That's... preposterous!" Nodoka said with an inward-turned glare.   
"I would never kill my own child!"  
  
The five of them sat in a loose circle in the living room, Kasumi   
having taken the time earlier to place the doors back on their rails to   
keep in the heat. Ranma sat directly opposite of Nodoka with Ukyo on   
one side, Kasumi and Cologne on the other.  
  
Ranma was fidgeting nervously, looking like he was ready to bolt at   
a moment's notice--Which he was--but Kasumi's calming presence kept him   
from getting too bad. Ranma reached up a hand and twisted one of the   
ties on his shirt as his mother fumed at the past actions of her   
'husband', but stopped at Kasumi's slightly reproving glance, letting   
his hand fall back to his knee.  
  
Ukyo sat a few feet away, unsure of her relationship with Ranma. She   
knew that she wasn't his fiancee any more, but still had hopes that she   
could at least still be his friend. Her hands were idly playing with   
the ends of her loosely-hanging hair as she watched the ongoing drama.  
  
Kasumi sat serenely, her hand primly folded in her lap, her dress   
tucked beneath her modestly. Her ponytail of chestnut hair hung in a   
silken bundle over her shoulder, the light shimmering in its depths.   
Her misty gray eyes occasionally glanced at Ranma as she, too, watched   
his mother talking to herself about what she was going to do with Genma   
if she ever got within katana-distance of him.  
  
Cologne was sitting beside Kasumi, making her diminutive stature   
seem, impossibly enough, *smaller* than it normally was. Her staff sat   
on the floor beside her for easy access incase something came along   
that needed a good thwack. Like Happosai.  
  
Speaking of Happosai...  
  
Cologne excused herself and, once again perching on her cane, hopped   
out of the livingroom to search the house for it's local hentei master   
of martial arts, her silver hair flying behind her loosely.  
  
"So, um... mom?" Ranma asked. "What now?"  
  
Nodoka stopped her tirade, and cleared her throat.  
  
"Well son, after all that has happened I don't think that it would   
be a very good idea if you stayed in the Tendo home for much longer.   
Another priority would be to get to know you after all these years."   
Nodoka said calmly. "So I think that you should move back into your own   
home, perhaps bringing your fiancee with you?"  
  
Nodoka looked imploringly at Kasumi.  
  
With a heavy sigh Kasumi looked at her folded hands, and thought.   
She thought of all the years that she had spent taking care of her   
family, making sure that they ate good food, that their clothes were   
clean, making sure that they never had to fret about cleaning up after   
themselves, and every little thing that she had done for them, all   
without a simple thanks.  
  
She had been little more than a slave to her home, shackled by her   
own wishes to do good. But, in trying to help, she had made sure that   
everyone else in her family never had to learn the skills necessary to   
take care of themselves.  
  
Maybe... maybe some time away from home would do her some good.  
  
"I... I'd like that, Auntie," Kasumi decided with a soft smile,   
looking up into Nodoka's eyes.  
  
"Please, call me mother," Nodoka said, smiling back warmly.  
  
"Thank you... mother..." Kasumi said, stumbling a little on calling   
*anybody* mother again after all those years. The thought of having   
Nodoka as a mother warmed her heart, and the thought of just *how*   
Nodoka was to be her mother warmed her *soul*.  
  
Kasumi looked over at Ranma, who was looking at the ceiling, his   
hands twitching occasionally as if he desperately wanted to be doing   
something, *anything*, else than just sitting there. Despite his morbid   
occupation she could not help but feel safe in his presence, a safeness   
which nothing could compare to.  
  
He had been willing to come back for her, despite the fact that life   
had held nothing else for him. Come back for her because... because he   
had realized that he loved her, just as she had realized that she loved   
him...  
  
"I would like that..." Kasumi stated  
  
***  
  
Ranma fidgeted, having been left out of the entire decision-making   
process, and looked at his mom again. Really *looked*, noticing those   
little things that he had missed earlier due to a modest fear of his   
own life. Heh, he didn't have to think about *that* one any more. Well,   
there was still cats, but...  
  
(AN: Scary thought, Death going into the Neko-ken. Brrrrrrr...)  
  
Nodoka was still youthful in appearance, despite the fact that she   
was middle-aged. One could easily mistake her for being in her mid   
twenties, regardless of her actual age. Her skin was smooth and soft,   
no wrinkles marring her beautiful features. Her reddish brown hair   
rested in waves, held in the back to keep her neck and shoulders clear.   
Her brown eyes danced with an inner flame, her spirit not diminished by   
the years of the relative solitude of living alone.  
  
He smiled slightly, noting that her hands were not smooth, but had   
small calluses that he recognized as being from sword practice. The   
little tell-tale marks of a woman practicing the art of the sword,   
despite living in a society that was still, unfortunately,   
male-dominated.  
  
"What?" he asked, snapping back to reality.  
  
"I asked you what we were going to do with your body," Nodoka   
repeated. "We can't very well leave it out there in the snow for the   
authorities to find. That would cause too many difficult questions."  
  
Even in Nerima.  
  
***  
  
Nabiki chose that moment to make herself known.  
  
"I can help with that... for a fee..." she stated with a smirk.  
  
Everyone turned to her, imploring looks on their faces.  
  
"After all, I can't have somebody going after Kasumi's fiancee, now   
can I?" she finished.  
  
"How can you help, dear?" Nodoka asked calmly.  
  
"Does that mean you accept my fees?" Nabiki queried.  
  
"I will pay no more than a hundred thousand yen," stated Nodoka,   
limiting the enterprise.  
  
"Deal!" Nabiki said, pleased even though she knew she could have   
gotten more.  
  
And so, Nabiki sat down in their circle and laid down her plan. A   
plan which was smooth, swift, and to the point. They would have Ranma   
use a Chi blast to cremate the body, and then bury the ashes somewhere   
fitting.  
  
It should be noted that, despite Nabiki's outward calm, she might   
have actually been in shock at seeing a dead body. Only the hardening   
effect of living in the Nerima district kept her from going insane, as   
so with the others (Akane notwithstanding).  
  
***  
  
Unfortunately, Shampoo showed up well before they could initiate   
Nabiki's plan, finding Ranma's self-disemboweled corpse covered with a   
light powdering of snow. She calmly walked over and kneeled beside the   
body, reaching out a hand to touch its shoulder.  
  
Shampoo was an Amazon and, by default, Shampoo was a Warrior.   
Warriors didn't cry. Warriors accepted death as a given. Warriors   
didn't let such a simple fact as somebody they cared about dying to   
stop them. Warriors... Warriors...  
  
Shampoo sat down heavily, the snow crunching beneath the sudden   
weight, and began to cry. Her tears traced delicate lines down her   
proudly stoic face, miniature rivers winding their way across her   
smooth skin.  
  
Her eyes shimmering in the brightening light of the day, she looked   
at Ranma's face. To his eyes, which had held such depths, but were now   
flat with death. A benevolent smile graced his now pale features,   
showing that he had accepted his fate during his last moments.  
  
And shampoo thought about her hopes... Hopes that, though she had   
lost his heart, that she might one day be his friend. If only she could   
have brought up the possibility without causing his fiancee, Akane, to   
beat upon him with her mallet, not understanding in her jealousy that   
Shampoo's words were true.  
  
If only...  
  
***  
  
Cologne eased open the door to Happosai's domain in her search for   
the lecher, and found out that the room was completely empty and bare.   
Not a single panty was left on the floor, not a single bra hung from   
the wall. It was empty.  
  
She narrowed her eyes as she stretched out her Chi senses, searching   
every nook and cranny of the small room for signs of its occupant. They   
were there, but faint from a few days of absence, a dark tint on the   
chaotic aura of the Tendo home.  
  
"Where are you Happi?" Cologne asked herself as she closed the door   
and went back to the living room.  
  
***  
  
Hokkaido...  
  
"Why Genma my boy, fancy meeting you here!"  
  
Genma froze, then turned around slowly, a look of absolute horror on   
his now pale face. He wished, oh-so-desperately, that that voice did   
not belong to who he *thought* it belonged to... but the fates had it   
out for him right then, and it *was*...  
  
"M-m-m-m-master!" Genma stammered, then crouched down before the   
diminutive pervert. "I come to do your bidding, oh most terrible and   
most powerful of masters."  
  
"Ha! That's more like it!" Happosai said with an evil grin.  
  
***  
  
Oklahoma...  
  
"Where on Earth am I now?!"  
  
Like I need to tell you who *that* is...  
  
***  
  
Akane numbly stood up from where Ranma had hit her, looking over for   
a moment at the Chinese Amazon that sat crying beside the corpse of   
Ranma. This was surreal, even for Nerima. The reality that Ranma had   
actually *died*, at his own hands no less, was almost too much for her   
to handle.  
  
And for him to come back for the woman that he loved... but not   
her... Akane couldn't quite deal with that, and so had resorted to the   
mindset which had aided her so well over the years in controlling her   
environment. Anger, deeply seated in her soul, the red filters that   
snapped over her eyes, changing her actions to those of violence and   
rage...  
  
Then she realized what she had done... She had hit Kasumi, the one   
who had been more like a mother to her than an older sister since their   
mother's early death. Kasumi, the glue that held the Tendo family   
together no matter what happened. Kasumi... She'd struck out at Kasumi   
in anger...  
  
With a quick sob she ran into the house, the doors once again   
getting knocked off their rollers, and burst into the livingroom. Those   
present, Ranma, Nodoka, Ukyo, Cologne, Kasumi, and Nabiki, all looked   
over at her. All but Kasumi tensed at her intrusion.  
  
With tears falling from her eyes she launched herself at Kasumi, and   
grabbed onto her in a frightened hug, noticing halfway there that   
Kasumi sported a black eye from her blows earlier, and lord knows how   
many painful bruises.  
  
"Please forgive me Kasumi, I don't know what came over me..." Akane   
mumbled between sobs.  
  
"Shh... shh... it's okay Akane..." Kasumi soothed, wrapping her arms   
around the shaking girl. "I forgive you..."  
  
"I-I didn't mean to, b-but I got so angry, and..." Akane continued.  
  
"It's okay Akane..." Kasumi said, looking over at Ranma.  
  
Ranma nodded, and stayed where he was for the moment, though   
everyone could tell that he was tense and ready for action. The only   
thing that kept him in his seat was Akane's obvious sadness at having   
struck at her eldest sister. And so, he let them settle things their   
way. Then, with a thought, he stood up and walked out of the room, the   
others following him as he led the way to the snow-covered yard where   
his body lay.  
  
***  
  
Shampoo looked up to those entering the yard from the home, not   
knowing what to expect. She could tell by the trampled state of the   
yard, and also by how Soun was a yard ornament and twin ice sculptures,   
that the Tendo family already knew. And so, she steeled herself, and   
dried her eyes quickly, awaiting their arrival...  
  
"Aiyah..." Shampoo noted, seeing Ranma at the head of the   
procession.  
  
She looked at his body lying there, split open at the belly, then   
back to the black-clad Ranma, who had slowed down and was walking   
cautiously in her direction. Behind him were her great-grandmother,   
spatula-girl, mercenary-girl, and a middle-aged woman. The woman had a   
silk-wrapped bundle on her back, as well as a small long knife, or   
short-sword, which she recognized from her war lessons as a Wakizashi.  
  
She looked back to Ranma, and wondered if he was a ghost or some   
such supernatural entity. Little did she know how close to fact that   
was.  
  
"Ranma?" Shampoo asked. "Is you?"  
  
***  
  
Ranma stopped, his black-clad feet buried slightly in the snow. The   
snow was falling heavier by now, causing his head and shoulders to be   
covered by a light powdering of white. His cloak hung along his back   
like a cape, held on by the clasp at his throat.  
  
"Ranma Saotome is dead, Shampoo," Ranma said calmly. "He died by his   
own hand to regain the honor of his family and Clan."  
  
Shampoo nodded, glancing at the body, then loked back to him   
imploringly.  
  
"Then who you?" she asked.  
  
Ranma smiled.  
  
"I'm the new Death," he replied.  
  
"Aiyah..." Shampoo stated, looking at her great-grandmother. "What   
he talking?  
  
"Ranma here died then, to come back and join the woman he loves,   
took the position of Death," Cologne stated. "It's quite simple,   
Shampoo."  
  
Shampoo thought of this for a moment, remembering back to her Lore   
classes, which she had to admit had been at the time quite boring and   
repetitive. It's no surprise that she had slept through many of them.   
But she did remember something about Death. She nodded to herself, then   
pointed at the body.  
  
"What we do with Ranma?" she asked.  
  
Death smiled, then raised a hand.  
  
"Step back, I'm going to try something..." Ranma said.  
  
After the Amazon took a step back Ranma charged his aura, which   
wrapped around him in a dark blanket. Black flames rippled over his   
frame as he concentrated on his task, the building of a Chi blast of   
just the right strength to cremate the body, not the countryside. His   
subconscious noted the arrival of Kasumi and her sister from the house   
as he gathered his aura into a ball.  
  
With a shout of 'Death's Ascending Blast!' he let go of the Chi   
ball, which leapt from his hand and slammed into his body. With a flash   
of black fire and intense heat the body burst into flames, leaving   
behind a pile of ashes and melted snow.  
  
With a sigh he began to slump down to his knees, stopping when   
Kasumi rushed up and held him by his shoulders. He looked to her in   
thanks, a soft smile passing across his features. Her eyes, the windows   
to her soul, held his for a moment, a deep rapport passing between them   
for that short time.  
  
"I love you Kasumi..." he said woozily, then fainted.  
  
***  
  
  
  
Mue-heh-heh-heh-heh!  
  
There's no stopping me! Yet another Chapter! YAAAY!  
  
Anyways, thanks for your input, it was taken into consideration.   
And, in case you didn't realize this by the, eh, *first chapter*, this   
*is* a Ranma and Kasumi fic. However, due to one reader's distress, I   
*did* tone down Akane's personality. I did not, however, take back her   
past actions.  
  
Additionally, I *am* aware that in the Canon universe Nodoka did   
know of Ranma's curse, and had been in contact with him; nevertheless,   
in this story she did not.  
  
You can find this story both at FanFiction.net and the Church of   
Ranma and Kasumi (CoRK). Thanks Darkreign!  
  
C&C Welcome. Flames will be eaten without salt.  
  
gryphon_aerie@msn.com  
  
This is Gryphon Aerie, signing off...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
^_^;  



	6. Chp 06

On a Pale Mustang  
By: Gryphon Aerie  
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction  
  
Disclaimers:  
Ranma is owned by Rumiko Takahashi  
And yes, 'On a Pale Horse' *is* written by Piers Anthony, though   
this story is only LOOSELY associated with that grand work because   
Death was killed for Ranma to become Death himself. You will (probably)   
not be seeing ANY of the characters from that book. (Of course, I won't   
make any promises...)  
That is all  
  
  
  
Chapter 06  
  
  
  
***  
  
"Hmm... interesting..." Cologne noted as the unconscious Ranma lay   
on the same mat that Kasumi had earlier occupied.  
  
"What's wrong with him?" Kasumi asked, conscerned.  
  
"Well, it seems as if his vast stores of Chi were mostly lost during   
his re-incarnation, if you will. He will have to regain it once again   
if he wishes to be able to do more than a simple chi-blast without   
losing consciousness," Cologne explained.  
  
"Poor Ranma," Kasumi noted.  
  
"Will he be able to move around any time soon?" Nodoka asked.  
  
"Oh yes. He should be mostly fine by the time he wakes up. It's just   
the sudden expenditure of Chi that he will have problems with for the   
time being," Cologne explained.  
  
Cologne, Kasumi, Nodoka, Shampoo, and Ukyo sat in a semi-circle   
around the silent martial artist, each with slight looks of worry   
passing across their faces. The two younger girls, the ex-fiancees,   
were seeming to take this better than they could have. Perhaps it was   
the suddenness of it all, but it might well have been the chaos of   
Nerima had hardened them somewhat to the unusual. Who knows.  
  
***  
  
Nabiki softly knocked on Akane's door, a slight frown on her face.  
  
"Go away..." came a voice from within.  
  
With a sigh Nabiki once again knocked, this time with more force,   
almost causing the little duck nameplate to bounce. She needed to have   
a chat with her little sister, and find out if things were 'okay'.   
After all, she knew that it had to be quite a blow to Akane to have her   
fiancee kill himself then come back for her *sister*. Akane's actions   
confirmed that, and Nabiki wanted to make sure that she was okay. After   
all, family came first, even to her.  
  
"Go *away*!"  
  
Nabiki merely shook her head, glanced imploringly at the ceiling as   
if yo say 'why me', and opened the door. Then she ducked under the   
flying pillow, closing the door behind her, and walked over to take a   
seat at Akane's desk.  
  
Akane was, to say the least, a complete mess. Her pajamas were still   
damp, and rumpled from the morning's activities. A few small   
bloodstains marred the loweer halves of the legs, testament of her   
first reaction to Ranma's death. Her hair was matted on one side,   
frizzed on another, and all together just... not all together.  
  
And her *eyes*...  
  
Her eyes contained a myriad of tales, even to the layman. Anger,   
sorrow, irritation, self-loathing, all waged war in her soul. Past and   
present tears left their mark on her face, making her eyes red and   
puffy.  
  
Akane sat on her bed, her knees drawn to her chest, wrapped in her   
arms. The occasional sniff or whimper escaped from her as she rocked   
slightly back and forth. The blankets on her bed were bunched up and   
covering her feet, the sheet beneath warped from the concentration of   
her weight.  
  
"So..." Nabiki started. "How do you feel?"  
  
Definitely not the most eloquent of starts, but it was something. At   
least it got her little sister talking, and that was a good sign that   
she had at least *something* to work with.  
  
"Horrible," Akane said flatly.  
  
*This* was going to take a while...  
  
***  
  
Ranma came to slowly, noting to himself sleepily that he was a   
little on the weak side at the moment, and hoping that nobody attacked   
him at the moment. With his luck they would, but he had to keep on   
dreaming. Maybe it had been some of Akane's cooking that had caused his   
current condition.  
  
No... He then remembered what had happened that day. Remembered how   
he had died, then met the mother of Kasumi and her sisters...   
Remembered how, in that place, he had realized his feelings for what   
they were, that he *did* love Kasumi. And how, to save the woman that   
he now knew he loved, he had taken the job of Death...  
  
He blinked, his eyes clearing. The ceiling came into focus and his   
mind slowly worked through it's files, searching for this particular   
ceiling in many. One of the re-patched holes gave it away, showing that   
he was in the livingroom.  
  
"Familiar ceiling..." he muttered to himself, then once again closed   
his eyes.  
  
(AN: Sorry, couldn't help myself ^_^; *grin*)  
  
"Ranma?" came Kasumi's voice.  
  
With a small groan he opened his eyes back up. His groan soon turned   
to a smile as he saw her leaning over him, her hair tickling his cheek.   
The look of worry on her face changed to a worried smile as she saw him   
awake again. Ranma took a small breath through his nose, noting the   
fact that she didn't smell like the light vanilla perfume that she   
normally used, but rather a fainter, more cloying scent. Herself.  
  
"Yeah, Kasumi?" he asked.  
  
"Cologne-san says that you are low on Chi right now, and that's why   
you passed out," Kasumi said, relieved that he seemed all right. "I   
think that it would be a good idea if you rested for a while..."  
  
"I agree with her, Ranma," Cologne's voice came from nearby. "Rest   
would be the best thing for you right at the moment and, pending no   
firther disaster, you might even want to have a nice meal..."  
  
Kasumi sat back upright, and nodded to herself, thinking about all   
of Ranma's favorite dishes, and what she could make with what she had   
on hand. She was lost, momentarily, in her own mind, thinking about   
recipies and portions.  
  
"Why don't I help you with dinner while Ranma rests?" Nodoka   
prompted.  
  
"Why thank you, aun--mother," Kasumi said with a smile.  
  
And so the two of them got up and walked to the kitchen, leaving   
Ranma alone with Cologne, Shampoo, and Ukyo. As they left the room the   
muted sounds of their talking could be heard, though specific words   
could not be picked out.  
  
"Well now..." Cologne said slowly. "Do you girls have anything to   
say to Ranma?"  
  
Shampoo fidgeted, and Ukyo chose to go first, seeing the Amazon's   
slight hesitation.  
  
"Um, Ranma?" Ukyo asked.  
  
"Yeah, Ucchan?" he replied.  
  
"I was wondering if... I mean..." she stumbled. "Can we be friends?"  
  
There, she got it out.  
  
"Shampoo ask same," Shampoo stated.  
  
"Well, um..." Ranma started, then thought on it.  
  
On one hand, both Ukyo and Shampoo had treated him as nothing more   
than a possession, a prize that must be won at any cost. Ukyo had, on   
occasion, used his own emotions to try to manipulate him into being her   
husband, though she had done so less frequently as time went on.   
Shampoo and her great-grandmother had blatantly tried to manipulate him   
every chance they got but, at the same time they had helped him on   
numerous occasions, despite their motives.  
  
Yet, through it all, they had stayed by his side, helping him when   
it was needed. And so, the new Death thought on this, and came to a   
decision. They would have to earn his friendship, but he was willing to   
give them that chance.  
  
"We'll see..." Ranma answered.  
  
The two girls slumped in a blend of both relief and defeat. At least   
he had not outright stated that he didn't want them as friends, though   
his answer lacked the re-assurance that they had been looking for.  
  
Ranma closed his eyes again, resting and regaining his Chi strength.   
Digging into his past training he found a meditation method and, using   
that, tried to regain the Chi force that he had lost.  
  
***  
  
A warm smile graced Kasumi's face as she worked on Ranma's favorite   
meals, steam rising from the boiling pots on the burners in front of   
her. Her life had changed so drastically that morning, though the   
changes seemed more for the better, despite the chaos abounding. No   
more than a few hours ago she had found Ranma laying dead by his own   
hands, and had decided to take her own life to be with him, finally   
realizing the feelings that she held for him. And, instead of her   
joining him in Death, Death came to join her in life.  
  
She didn't claim to understand all that which was going on, but she   
took what she had and held onto it. She finally had the love that she   
had been yearning for her entire life, she was finally going to *live*   
her own life. All because of a single young man who had entered her   
peaceful life, bringing chaos in his every action, breaking the   
monotony that had settled around them. With him he brought the fullness   
of life, complete with it's many problems, but also with its many joys.  
  
And now, despite the odds, they loved each other. A love that had   
gained its birth in mere friendship and silent understanding; A love   
that, as unlikely as it had seemed, had transcended even the grasp of   
Death. In fact, Death had made it possible, in many ways.  
  
Kasumi sighed, causing Nodoka to look over at her as the older woman   
cut some meats with one of Kasumi's razor-sharp knifes.  
  
"Thinking of my son?" Nodoka asked.  
  
Kasumi blushed in answer, and checked the food cooking on the oven.   
Nodoka smiled at this, and thought of how lucky she was to have a   
mature young woman like that as a future daughter. That, and a son who   
would return from the dead to save her.  
  
Yes, even though it no longer really mattered when a certain slip of   
paper was considered, her son *was* manly.  
  
A slight 'bamf' sound was heard from the other room.  
  
Or, perhaps *womanly*?  
  
Nodoka shook her head and once again concentrated on the preparation   
of the meal. There would be time enough to ponder those things once   
they left for the Saotome home...  
  
***  
  
Nabiki sighed as she looked down at Akane's sleeping form.  
  
Akane hadn't taken the morning's ordeal very well, and had sunk into   
a cycle of anger and sorrow. Anger that Ranma had left her, sorrow that   
she had stuck her own sister, anger that Ranma had come back not for   
her, but for Kasumi, and sorrow again that it was partially her fault   
that he had. The chock of it all had broken down some of Akane's own   
emotional defenses, causing her to think clearer than she had for   
years, ever since their mother had... left...  
  
Nabiki stood up and left the room, heading for her own sanctuary.  
  
***  
  
Up in heaven the Scotsman that had been Death sat watching the   
proceedings in the mortal realm. His gleeful visage had changed slowly   
into one of troubled pondering, his laughter dying down as he thought   
about the true reason that he had given the young man--er, whatever--   
his new status as Death.  
  
"Do you think he will be ready for the ordeal that comes?" asked a   
soft voice from behind the Scotsman.  
  
"I dinna know, lad... I dinna know..." he answered. "We kin only   
hope."  
  
A figure drifted out of the darkness, it's movements smooth and   
gliding. They wore a dark, dark red cloak that shimmered in the low   
light, making it seem as if it were made of flowing blood. Their face   
was pale and angular, their black eyes shining from their elfin   
features. Their hair flowed down their back and over the cloak, it's   
color blending in seamlessly in the near darkness.  
  
"Sometimes hope is all that we have," said the figure. "As well you   
know."  
  
"Aye, lad," the Scotsman replied. "Even to one such as you, there is   
always hope."  
  
What might have been a smile floated across the figure's face,   
though it was not a smile of joy or happiness, but a more grim show of   
emotions from one who had lost almost all. Yes, there was always   
hope...  
  
***  
  
Death's steed watched it's master as she meditated in the   
livingroom, its dark eyes glittering with inner fire as it gazed though   
the weak mortal barriers placed between it and it's charge. The   
nightmare did not breathe nor move as it stood silently in the yard.   
Even the snow did not dare touch upon it's hide, instead drifting   
around it, skirting its form.  
  
It knew that its new master was a fighter, but it also knew that,   
for the tasks that lay ahead of Ranma, he needed to be much more than a   
fighter... Ranma needed to be a warrior. Ranma needed to accept his new   
station as Death.  
  
Ranma did not have to just *be* Death, he had to *define* Death.  
  
Too much rested on Ranma's actions. Not only the lives oh his loved   
ones, but the entire world. Such a task could never, should never, be   
taken lightly. The only hope was that Ranma was up to the task...  
  
With a shake of its mane the steed thought of other things...  
  
***  
  
As Ranma found his center he was surprised at just how much his own   
soul had changed. Those things which were not visible to the naked eye   
were clear to him as he slipped into his trance. There were little   
variances, the changes which were forced on his soul as it was twisted   
into a new form, shaped into what he had become.  
  
Death.  
  
He had only killed once, to save the life of the woman that he had   
loved. Twice, if you consider his own suicide. What he had done to   
become Death did not count. But now, with his new... office... his very   
existence caused the deaths of all those around him.  
  
He could literally *feel* the world aging around him, as metal   
turned to rust and bones to dust. He could sense as Soun Tendo, sitting   
in the back yard, aged ever so slowly to his own death, brought on   
partially by his habit of smoking, but no small part due to his own   
sadness.  
  
He could even tell that Kasumi, bursting with life and inner light,   
was moving her way towards Death. Her death was many upon many years   
away, but to him it was much too soon. He felt that he could no longer   
live without her there, without her bright and gentle soul, without the   
love that they now understood linked their hearts together.  
  
But, at the same time, he felt the life of the world around him. He   
could feel it as the old died, and as the new was born and given form.   
An old man dies, bringing sorrow to his children, while a child cries   
for the first time, bringing joy to its parents.  
  
And so, everything worked in an eternal circle.  
  
He turned his thoughts from life and Death, and began, ever so   
slowly, to regain the Chi that he had lost...  
  
***  
  
Nabiki sat in her room, her eyes gazing sightlessly out her window   
and into the whiting world beyond. Her ledger book sat on the desk in   
front of her, opened to the page that held Ranma's account. All his   
past dues had been erased on the day of the failed wedding, an unusual   
act of kindness on her part.  
  
As she sat there she thought about Ranma's life ever since he came   
there and she realized that it had been a sort of living hell, at least   
as far as she could tell. Finding him dead had been a real... eye   
opening experience. For many reasons, the least of which was that Ranma   
had, for all intents and purposes, *given up* on life.  
  
She shook her head, then thought of just how he had returned.  
  
Ranma... Death... it somehow seemed fitting, what with the dark life   
that Ranma had lived, for him to change from one of the most feared and   
respected martial artists... to being *the* most feared and respected   
being.  
  
And then there was the fact that Ranma actually admitted that he   
loved somebody... and that somebody was Kasumi, not Akane. That had   
been almost as shocking as his death itself. But she knew that she   
should have seen it coming. After all, while Ranma was one of the most   
honorable and kind young men around, despite his many failings, Kasumi   
was just as honorable and kind, a true beacon of pure intent.  
  
If Ranma hurt her older sister like he had Akane... Nabiki would   
swear vengeance upon him. Only Kasumi's love for him kept her from   
making Ranma's life pure hell for the way that Akane was taking this,   
how he had struck her even though she had deserved it.  
  
The fact that he was Death had nothing to do with it. No siree...  
  
At least, if she kept telling herself that, she might begin to   
believe herself.  
  
She was shaken out of her reverie by Kasumi's call that Dinner was   
ready. With a shake of her head to clear her mind she stood up and,   
putting her ledger away, headed out of her room. She stopped in front   
of Akane's room for only a moment before heading to the dining room,   
and the awaiting meal.  
  
***  
  
Ranma-chan awoke from her meditation felling calmed and refreshed,   
taking a deep breath of the clean air of the living room, which still   
held the chill of having the doors opened--or, rather, knocked off--  
earlier that morning.  
  
For a moment she wondered what had taken her out of her meditative   
trance, her mind slowly mulling over what her senses told her. Then it   
finally struck her as her sense of smell gave her a metaphorical kick.   
A glorious symphony of mouth-watering scents assaulted her, causing her   
eyes to go unfocused for a moment before she was able to regain   
control.  
  
"Oh... wow..." she muttered.  
  
"Ranma-kun, dinner's ready," Kasumi said, causing her--.  
  
BAMF!  
  
... Sorry... Causing *him* to look over.  
  
Despite her plain dress, or perhaps even enhanced by it, Kasumi was   
one of the most beautiful women that Ranma had ever seen. And, the most   
glorious of all, the inner beauty of her soul matched her outwards   
glory.  
  
A small, loving smile graced her features, causing Ranma to smile   
back. Her misty gray eyes, which were beginning to gain an inner life   
that he had never seen in them before, gazed into his own troubled eyes   
of dark blue. Her love cut through the troubles that still crept   
through him, even after his meditation, causing him to feel whole and   
at peace for just a few short moments.  
  
Kasumi reached down a hand to help him up which he, in his   
semi-weakened state, accepted gladly. Once he was fully erect he kept   
his hold on her hand, squeezing it gently as if reassuring himself that   
it was real, and looked once more into her eyes. Then he reached his   
other arm out and, slightly nervous, gently hugged her to him.  
  
He felt her tense for a moment, causing him to almost panic, but   
soon she melted into his embrace, letting go of his hand to place both   
arms around him to hold him tight. He placed his now free arm around   
her, a smile growing on his face.  
  
A contented sigh caused him to tense and look over, expecting to see   
Akane with her mallet at any moment. Much to his surprise, it was his   
mother standing there, a warm smile on her face as she watched them   
hold each other.  
  
Kasumi released her hold on him, stepping back as he did the same,   
and looked over at Nodoka with a look of thanks. Nodoka bowed slightly   
to her, her eyes dancing with mirth, and turned around to head towards   
the dining room.  
  
"Please join us for dinner after you two are done with each other,"   
Nodoka said over her shoulder, causing the two newly found loves to   
blush furiously. Nodoka, knowing what their response was, laughed as   
she entered the other room.  
  
After they got over their embarrassment Kasumi looked over at Ranma,   
motioning for them to follow his mother. Ranma, however, insisted that   
she go first, which caused her to smile once again.  
  
Yes, the day was starting to settle down.  
  
Then again, why did thunder rumble in the background just then?  
  
***  
  
  
  
Hey there! Yet *another* chapter?  
  
Yea, well, I'm starting my next semester soon, so it will *probably*   
slow down significantly. I don't really know, though, so I guess we'll   
see. I do *not*, however, plan to abandon this story.  
  
And to those of you who want more action, death-defying (heh, whole   
new meaning to the term, huh?) ordeals, and the Kunos, well... Just you   
*wait*...  
  
Mue-heheheheheheheh!  
  
Thanks again to all of you who have actually read this, and   
double-thanks to those who have either sent me a review or an E-mail.   
Special thanks to Darkreign for wanting to host this fic on his site,   
the Church of Ranma and Kasumi, which you can find at:   
www.angelfire.com/anime2/KasumiandRanma/  
  
C&C welcome, flames will be eaten without salt.  
  
gryphon_aerie@msn.com  
  
This is Gryphon Aerie, signing off...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
^_^; 


	7. Chp 07

On a Pale Mustang  
By: Gryphon Aerie  
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction  
  
Disclaimers:  
Ranma is owned by Rumiko Takahashi  
And yes, 'On a Pale Horse' *is* written by Piers Anthony, though   
this story is only LOOSELY associated with that grand work because   
Death was killed for Ranma to become Death himself. You will (probably)   
not be seeing ANY of the characters from that book. (Of course, I won't   
make any promises...)  
That is all  
  
  
  
Chapter 07  
  
  
  
***  
  
The waking occupants of the Tendo home settled down for dinner,   
taking their seats at the table. Shampoo and Ukyo were sitting   
nervously, giving occasional glances towards their ex-fiancee. Both   
Cologne and Nabiki noted this, though Nabiki did not directly know the   
answer. Kasumi did not show that she had noticed, for she was paying   
more attention to Ranma than anyone else.  
  
All, or as many as she could make in such a short time, of Ranma's   
favorite dishes were sitting on the table in front of him. Steam rose   
from the still hot dishes, creating wraiths in the air that danced   
gleefully.  
  
Ranma glanced from his food for a moment, catching Kasumi watching   
him. When she saw his eyes on hers she blushed slightly and looked down   
at her own plate, causing Ranma's heart to jump in his chest.  
  
They had, by now, decided to cart the still immobile Soun Tendo out   
of the cold and up to his room, where he was thawing beneath an   
electrical blanket. Ranma had noted to hismelf as they had lay him down   
with the blanket that, just maybe, an electrical blanket wasn't a good   
idea, as the man might start cying and electrocute himself. Kasumi had   
then stated to him calmly that she had checked the blanket at an   
earlier date by soaking it in water and plugging it in and nothing bad   
had happened. Ranma was still sceptical, and justly so.  
  
And Akane... Well... She was in her room, sleeping off a good cry.  
  
And why, if things were so peaceful, did Ranma get a chill up his   
back? Was it the crow that died in mid-flight, langing in the   
snow-covered yard? Was it the muted crash of the shrine falling over?   
Was it the fact that he was a she again?  
  
No, it was much worse than that, it was...  
  
"Pig-tailed girl!"  
  
Kuno...  
  
GLOMP!  
  
Ranma-chan shivvered as she felt, once again, the unwanted embrace   
of the True Blunder of Furinka High. She shrunk into herself as the   
boy's hands began to roam over her, causing her anger to begin to grow   
and mature.  
  
BAMF!  
  
Kuno froze as the pig-tailed girl changed into the dreaded sorcorer   
in his arms. His agile mind began to work at a breakneck pace as he   
filtered his sences, finding the cause for this travesty of justice.   
And so, as always, he came up with the exact same answer, leaping back   
and pulling his bokken.  
  
"Foul Sorcorer! What hast thou done with my Pig-Tailed Goddess?!"   
Kuno demanded. "Speak now, lest I decide to enact the vengance of   
heaven and smite thee!"  
  
(AN: You saw that coming, didn't you!)  
  
Ranma stood up, his fists shaking in rage, eyes closed as he tried,   
unsuccessfully, to calm himself. A mantra passed through his mind, and   
he latched onto it, tr6ying to stop himself from doing irreprible   
damage.  
  
*I will not kill Kuno, I will not kill Kuno, I will not kill Kuno, I   
will not... I will not...*  
  
Kasumi stood up and walked over to Ranma's side, placing a calming   
hand on his shoulder. Ranma opened his eyes and looked at her in   
thanks, not noticing that Kuno had also seen the gesture. Kuno, of   
course, mis-interpreted it as something slightly different.  
  
"Vile Knave! You bring a demon with you to aid in your enslavement   
of the fairer sex?! I shall smite you both!" Kuno shouted, and charged.  
  
Ranma snapped his head back around, seeing Kuno within feet of him   
and the woman that he loves. Acting on new instincts he reached his   
hands out and grabbed *something*, his hands coming away with a   
blackened wooden shaft in his grasp. A quick stance, and a sweep of a   
silvered blade, and Kuno stopped in mid-swing.  
  
Kuno blinked, and his bokken fell in two, as did the front of his   
shirt. He looked down at the handle of his once great bokken in his   
hands, and saw nothing more than a small nub of wood above where his   
hands grasped the wood.  
  
And then he looked up...  
  
Ranma had gone into full protect-the-fiancee mode, and so had gone   
into the full visage of his office, becoming a cloaked skeleton   
wielding it's silver-bladed scythe. It's bleached skull peaked from the   
folds of it's hood, empty sockets burning with fury.  
  
"Leave... now..." Death said grimly.  
  
For the first time in years a Kuno made the right choice, fleeing   
the Tendo home. Kuno did in style, not screaming like a little girl, as   
he wanted so desperately to do. No, he was of noble samurai descent, he   
wouldn't scream. He could, however, beat a wise retreat, regrouping for   
a later assault. He could also run like a little Nancy boy, his face   
pallid with fear.  
  
Of course, many nobles of samurai descent would to the same if faced   
by an angry Death wielding it's scythe, ready to reap one's soul. It's   
only natural.  
  
Ranma sighed, and lowered his scythe until the blade touched lightly   
upon the floor. His cloak billowed back, revealing once again his human   
features, much to the relief of many in the room. Taking a deep breath   
he set his weapon on the floor and walked back to his seat, settling   
down to continue his meal.  
  
It had taken almost all of his self-control to keep himself from   
extending his blow just a single inch further, which would have surely   
dealt a killing blow on the kendoist. Just a single inch further and   
there would have been Kuno all over the place. Then again, just another   
inch and he would have had to clean up the mess...  
  
Hmm...  
  
He looked over at Kasumi, who had set back down at her seat. On the   
outside she seemed as calm as ever but, with his new connection to her,   
he could see that she was greatly troubled by something. He could see   
it clearly, it was in her eyes.  
  
"What's wrong, Kasumi-chan?" he asked softly.  
  
"It's... nothing, Ranma-kun," she replied, glancing from her plate   
for a moment. "I'm fine."  
  
Ranma thought on this as they slowly ate the rest of their meal. And   
then he slowly began to realize why she was bothered. This was the   
first time that one of his rivals had ever targeted *her*. Kasumi had   
always been at the sidelines, not having to worry about somebody coming   
after her with a vendetta. Well, other than the two lost Tendo girls,   
but that hadn't directly targeted *her*.  
  
He looked at her again, noting that her hand shook slightly as she   
picked up a piece of meat with her chop-sticks. He felt that this was   
going to be a looong dinner.  
  
***  
  
By the time that Kuno had reached his home he had convinced himself   
that he had done so only to retrieve the Kuno family honor blade and a   
new shirt. He also knew, for sure, that Ranma was not just a foul   
sorcerer, and not just a foul sorcorer who enslaved others and had a   
demon doing his bidding, but also that Ranma was a lord of Hell!  
  
Was it not his duty to rid the world of such evil beings? Was it not   
required by him, by the code of the Samurai, to lay the vengeance of   
Heaven upon the foul creature? Was it not true that Pocky was manna   
sent from heaven?  
  
Wait, forget that last part...  
  
Kuno shook his head, 'clearing' it as he put on a new shirt, his   
eyes resting on the sheathed Katana resting on its stand. Yes, he would   
do his duty, he would smite the evil, demonic, sorcerous, enslaver of   
pure-hearted maidens.  
  
But was it not almost eight in the evening? Was it not the Blue   
Thunder's bed time?  
  
Kuno sighed and, leaving his task for tomorrow, went to his room and   
prepared for the night's sleep. After all, it was his duty to be sure   
that he was fully rested for when he returned to Smite his enemy.  
  
***  
  
"Och, he's gonna hae some problems with that lad, that is for sure,"   
the Scotsman said from his vigil.  
  
***  
  
Zimbabwe...  
  
"RANMA! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"  
  
***  
  
Nodoka smiled to herself when she saw Ranma watching his knew   
fiancee from the corners of his eyes. Other than the 'attack' of that   
boy with the wooden sword earlier, the dinner had been rather   
uneventful. Nobody had really talked, as they didn't quite know what to   
say, and she could tell that the two youngest girls, who had chased   
after her son's hand in marriage in the past, were doubly unsure.  
  
She sighed slightly as they finished dinner, causing all present to   
look over at her questioningly. Her eyes got a far-away look to them   
for a moment, telling her audience that she was thinking on what to   
say, then she began.  
  
"As you know, my son and I will be moving into the recently remolded   
ancestral home of the Saotome clan," Nodoka stated. "Also, Kasumi will   
be leaving as well, and staying with us."  
  
Nabiki hadn't heard of this, but she took it in stride. She knew   
that it would be a good thing for Kasumi to finally get away from the   
house. It would also be good for Kasumi to finally show interests   
beyond the continuous task of keeping the house in order. Yes, it would   
be good, she nodded to herself.  
  
"Ranma, could you please pack your belongings while Kasumi and I   
gather her things?" Nodoka asked.  
  
Ranma nodded and, with a look at Kasumi, headed out of the room and   
up the stairs. The sounds of him beginning to pack could be heard as   
they drifted from the other part of the house, telling them that he was   
occupied.  
  
"Now I would appreciate it if you told me exactly how Ranma's life   
has been since you knew him..." Nodoka stated.  
  
***  
  
When Ranma finished packing his stuff he grabbed the heavy backpack   
and, with a single longing look to the room that had housed him for the   
past year, closed that chapter in his life. He knew that his life   
wouldn't be quite that 'simple' for a long time. He shook his head at   
that thought as he headed down the stairs.  
  
A glance towards the other part of the house showed the women all   
working at gathering together Kasumi's more treasured things, such as   
her knifes, and the occasional piece of china that her mother had used.   
He knew that he wasn't wanted there, and headed into the yard, where it   
had all started.  
  
Funny, that it all started when it all ended. But, then again, such   
things had been passing through his mind ever since... *it* happened.   
He was still confused about that part, though he was beginning to   
understand just a little more. Why he was chosen to be Death he didn't   
know.  
  
His ponderings were cut short as he felt a cold breath on the back   
of his head, and a strange tickling sensation. When he whirled around   
he came face to face with the other part of his new 'job'. He could   
almost swear that the horse smiled at him, it's dark eyes glowing not   
as fiercely, but more in concern.  
  
He sighed, placing a hand on its forehead, it's coarse hairs rubbing   
against his palm like a firm-bristled brush, causing him to smile   
lightly at the tickling sensation. The horse whuffed, sending a cold   
breeze, colder even than the winter night's air, across his chest.   
Ranma marveled at the fact that, though the horse was full of life and   
spirit, its skin was as cold as ice. Living, yet dead, a pure   
contradiction in terms.  
  
Then again, did Ranma not fit into the same classification? Death,   
walking and living amongst those who feared his existence? He just   
hoped that Kasumi would accept him for what he was. No, he didn't just   
hope, he *yearned*.  
  
"Oh my, what a beautiful horse," said the most melodious of voices   
from behind him.  
  
Ranma smiled faintly as Kasumi walked into his field of vision, her   
eyes open and innocent, gazing upon his cold friend. She tentatively   
reached a hand out and touched the nightmare's side, marveling at the   
strength she could feel rippling just beneath it's snow-white hide. The   
horse flicked one of it's ears for a moment, and one of it's muscles   
shuddered, causing it's coarse hair to vibrate against Kasumi's touch.  
  
"What's it's name?" Kasumi asked.  
  
"I don't know," Ranma said. "But I think that it might be Mortis."  
  
Kasumi scrunched her nose for a second, making herself irresistibly   
cure, and translated the Latin term into her own language. She had   
learned some of the language while she still had a dream of learning to   
become a healer.  
  
"Death?" she said. "That's not a very nice name for such a beautiful   
animal, but I guess it *is* fitting."  
  
"Yeah," Ranma replied with a heavy, and heartfelt, sigh. "Kasumi?"  
  
"Yes, Ranma?"  
  
"I was wondering, do..." he paused, and took a deep breath. "Do you   
still love me, even after what I have become?"  
  
There, he'd got it out.  
  
"Oh no, Ranma," she said.  
  
His heart broke.  
  
"I love you because of who you are, not what you are," she finished,   
causing him to look at her in hope. "You have given up your chance to   
stay in Heaven, your chance to finally know peace, just so that you   
could be with me. You saved me, in many ways, and have made it possible   
for me to live my own life. A life that I would like to life with you,   
if you are willing."  
  
Ranma could not say a single word, so enraptured was he with her.   
Every time he looked at her it was as if he was seeing her for the   
first time, each time realizing just how beautiful she was, both within   
and without. The way that her soft gray eyes shined in the moonlight,   
how the snow fell upon her chestnut hair, making a crown of purest   
white, how her lips curved just *so* when she smiled.  
  
They found themselves in each other's embrace, sharing their warmth   
amidst the cold of winter. They rested their chins on each other's   
shoulders, each breathing in tandem, bringing in each other's scent   
upon the brisk air.  
  
And they knew that, no matter what was going to happen, they would   
have each other.  
  
***  
  
Nodoka smiled as she looked out the window to see the two of them   
holding each other close, their breath steaming the air as their shared   
their gentle embrace. She remembered one time, long ago, that she had   
been held in much the same manner, by a man who had been, at the time,   
very much in love with her, as she was with he.  
  
She purposely forgot those memories, merely silently sharing their   
moment in silent comfort. A soft sigh escaped her lips, saying more   
than a thousand words could ever tell.  
  
***  
  
Another pair of eyes watched the couple, these filled with pained   
tears. The curtain of the bedroom parted slightly, allowing a sliver of   
silver light to enter the room.  
  
Akane sighed as well, knowing that she could never be held in his   
embrace. She had lost his heart to another, and had sealed the fate of   
their relationship permanently with her thoughtless, pain-clouded   
actions of the morning.  
  
It was all moving too fast, but to Akane it seemed to be much too   
long. She just hoped that it would be over, that the pain would stop,   
but she knew that it was not to be so. She had made too many mistakes,   
and was just now realizing the effects that they had had not only on   
her, or her family, but also on Ranma himself.  
  
He had killed himself to escape the tangled web of honor that his   
father, like a wicked spider, had woven so tightly around him. He had   
killed himself b3ecause he saw no other way to regain honor. He had   
killed himself because he wasn't... loved.  
  
But he had come back, because he finally understood that he *was*   
loved, and loved in turn. And still, it broke Akane's heart that it was   
not she that he loved, but her eldest sister.  
  
How many other chances at a love such as that would she get in her   
life? How many times could she turn her head at the chance to know   
another person, as Ranma knew Kasumi? How many times could she say no,   
before she would never have a chance to say yes?  
  
With another sigh she closed the curtains, once again shutting her   
room into darkness.  
  
***  
  
BAMF!  
  
Kasumi giggled as Ranma became female in her arms, the change   
causing Ranma-chan to shrink in her grasp, Kasumi's chin resting on the   
top of her head. That had definitely been something new, Ranma changing   
without water, but she knew that, somehow, Ranma would figure it out.  
  
Ranma never lost where it counted, not the least of which was the   
battle for his heart, which had, finally, ended.  
  
"Aw man not *again*," Ranma-chan grumbled. "Sorry about this   
Kasumi-chan."  
  
"It's okay, Ranma-kun," Kasumi said with a smile as they eased out   
of their embrace. "Now, why don't you help me gather the bags for us to   
carry to our new home, okay?"  
  
Ranma-chan nodded, allowing the older girl to lead her into the   
house, where the luggage awaited. Ranma ground to a halt at seeing the   
large pile of duffel bags, suitcases, backpacks, and baskets that held   
Kasumi's possessions. She whimpered slightly, looking imploringly at   
her fiancee.  
  
"Oh come now, Ranma-kun," Kasumi admonished. "It's not quite *that*   
bad! After all, you're a martial artist! Look at it as training."  
  
"Easy for you to say, you don't have to carry it..." Ranma-chan   
grumbled.  
  
"Well, we can see if Mortis would agree to carry some of it," Kasumi   
offered, thinking of the beautiful horse, and it's well-defined   
muscles. Much like Ranma's... She blushed.  
  
"Who is Mortis, dear?" Nodoka asked as she came into the livingroom   
with a single, last, and obviously heavy bag.  
  
"Ranma's horse, mother," Kasumi said with a bright smile.  
  
Nodoka quirked an eyebrow and looked at her 'daughter'.  
  
"A horse?" she asked.  
  
"It came with the job," Ranma muttered, which answered Nodoka's   
question.  
  
"Very well, though I do sincerely hope that it's housebroken,"   
Nodoka stated calmly, "or else you are going to clean up after it."  
  
"Um... mom... I don't think that Mortis is alive enough to have to   
worry about things like that. Mortis is a Nightmare," Ranma explained   
nervously.  
  
"I see," Nodoka said. "Shall we?" she asked, waving a hand at the   
pile of bags and such. "And by the way, whimpering isn't very manly,"   
Nodoka teased.  
  
***  
  
Ukyo, Shampoo, Cologne, and Nabiki all watched as they left, all but   
the elder surprised at the presence of the pale horse that pulled the   
heavy wooden cart behind itself, Kasumi sitting side-saddle on it's...   
saddle. Each of them felt something being taken away as the travelers   
faded into the snow-blanketed night.  
  
With a heavy sigh Ukyo looked over at Shampoo, a look of apology on   
her face. Shampoo looked at her questioningly, and Ukyo explained her   
feelings.  
  
"I'm sorry if I was mean to you while I was chasing after Ran-chan,"   
Ukyo said. "I really *do* hope that we can be friends, even after all   
that's happened."  
  
"Shampoo would like to be friends with Spatu--Ukyo, as well,"   
Shampoo said in return.  
  
"That's good to hear," Cologne said. "For I feel that, somehow,   
Ranma will need all the friends he can get."  
  
"What do you mean?" Nabiki asked.  
  
"Death would not give his job to another, unless the other was   
needed to accomplish the tasks ahead. And, knowing our Ranma, the task   
has to be very difficult indeed, for them to warrant his ascension,"   
Cologne explained. "I only hope that he's up to it..."  
  
***  
  
  
  
YAY! Even *more* foreshadowing, though even *I* don't quite know of   
what. Don't worry, I'm working on that one...  
  
Heh, a sort of wrap-up of Ranma's stay at the Tendo home, more   
insight into things, and, of course, a Kuno. Don't worry, that's hardly   
the last we will be seeing of him. Still, he did get the ever-livin'   
bejeezus scared out of him, what with the scythe and all.  
  
And what's this? He thinks that Kasumi is a Demon? I thought it   
highly possible, what with the history of mental illness in their   
family, that he would see her as such. After all, sorcerers all confide   
with demons, don't they?  
  
Definitely not a story for those who like Kuno. The first chapters   
showed Akane in a bad light, which will turn off many Akaneites, though   
I hope that some of them will *still* read this, giving me a chance at   
least.  
  
And what of Genma? Well, remember who he met up with, a fate 'worse   
than death', I think.  
  
Well now, not much happened here, and the fic is going slow. But, as   
you might have guessed by now (those who actually read this far, *thank   
you*!) this is more than just a string of events, it's a look into   
their interactions and feelings.  
  
I hope that you are enjoying this story as much as I am enjoying   
writing it. That, and reading the E-mails and Reviews sent to me about   
it. Makes me feel all warm and bubbly inside, as if Kasumi herself   
smiled in my general direction.  
  
C&C welcome, flames will be eaten without salt.  
  
gryphon_aerie@msn.com  
  
This is Gryphon Aerie, signing off...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
^_^;  



	8. Chp 08

On a Pale Mustang  
By: Gryphon Aerie  
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction  
  
Disclaimers:  
Ranma is owned by Rumiko Takahashi  
And yes, 'On a Pale Horse' *is* written by Piers Anthony, though   
this story is only LOOSELY associated with that grand work because   
Death was killed for Ranma to become Death himself. You will (probably)   
not be seeing ANY of the characters from that book. (Of course, I won't   
make any promises...)  
That is all  
  
  
  
Chapter 08  
  
  
  
***  
  
"Whoa..."  
  
"Oh my..."  
  
"Snort..."  
  
Nodoka smiled at her companions' response at seeing the Saotome home   
for the first time. Though small as many mansions go, in Tokyo (even   
the Nerima district, which has the highest collection of martial-arts   
weirdoes this side of Maine) the house was a veritable palace. Three   
stories, complete with retaining wall and gardens, all tastefully   
constructed to Japanese engineering standards.  
  
Yes, it was the Saotome home, and she looked on it with many fond   
memories. She was glad, then, that Genma had only married into their   
family, looking for a Name and Wealth, otherwise she might have to give   
up her home when she had him stricken from the Clan charter.  
  
And now, after so many years, she could share her home with her son.   
Not only her son, but also the woman that he loved who had, before,   
been almost like a daughter to her. And, the way things seemed to be   
going, she guessed that Kasumi *would* be her daughter, though she   
guessed that the both of them wanted to wait for their feelings to   
mature more before taking that final step.  
  
"I'm glad you like it," Nodoka said, looking over her shoulder as   
she eased the heavy wooden gate of the retaining wall open. "This home   
has been in our family for many generations, and will stay in our   
family for many more. I, myself, grew up here before..."  
  
Kasumi and, surprisingly, Ranma, noted the sense of old sorrow and   
loss in her voice as she trailed off. They gave each other a quick   
sideways glance, and consciously chose not to mention anything. Ranma   
could feel, with his new senses as well as his old, that the home had   
not been lived in for many years.  
  
"It's a very nice home," Kasumi said, changing the subject. "But how   
can you afford to live there?"  
  
Nodoka's smile turned to a rakish grin.  
  
"I'm Rich, Kasumi dear," Nodoka said.  
  
"Oh... my..." Kasumi said, having not known this before.  
  
"Why did you think that fat fool married me?" Nodoka asked. "He   
wanted the Name, as well as the Fortune attached to it. Ranma was to   
inherit twenty percent of our legacy when he married as a wedding gift,   
which Genma would have immediately sunk his greasy claws into at the   
earliest convenience. Why else would he be pressing for the wedding so   
hard?"  
  
"Makes perfect sense now," Ranma snorted.  
  
"Oh... my..." Kasumi repeated.  
  
Mortis slowed to a stop, flicking it's ears back as the straps   
holding the cart cut slightly into it's sides. The four of them were   
now directly in front of the front door of the Saotome home. The snow   
was falling just as heavy, having lain several inches upon the ground.   
As the cart shuddered to a stop it's accumulated pile of snow, which   
had lain atop the tarp covering Kasumi's belongings, slid off to the   
ground with a soft whoomph.  
  
Nodoka unlocked the front door, shedding the warm light from inside   
out into the cold winter night. The mist from their breath hung in the   
air, miniature golden clouds dancing in front of their faces.  
  
The inside of the house was simple, the polished wooden floors   
gleaming beneath overhead light, a pair of sliding doors opposite the   
entryway, a tasteful wall scrool on one side, a flower arrangement on   
the other.  
  
Soon the sliding door across from then opened, revealing a somewhat   
tall and thin man wearing a black ninja suit. His air hung free down   
his back in a single ponytail, his face was clear of mask, showing his   
somewhat plain features. His dark brown eyes first looked to Nodoka,   
then to her three companions.  
  
"Greetings, Lady Nodoka," the man said. "Are we entertaining   
guests?"  
  
"No, Kazama-san, we are not," Nodoka replied. "I would like for you   
to meet my son, Ranma, and his future wife, Kasumi Tendo. Now, I think   
that we should get out of this cold, and have ourselves a nice cup of   
tea. If you will?"  
  
"Of course, Lady," Kazama said, bowing to her and walking out with   
them. "The garage and stables are this way, Master Ranma."  
  
"Uh, right," Ranma said, somewhat overwhelmed.  
  
Ranma turned to Kasumi, who put her arms out to him from her seat on   
Mortis. Ranma briskly stepped to her side, catching her as she slid off   
the saddle, her shoes burying themselves in the thickening snow. He   
smiled, brushing some snow off her shoulders, and stepped to the side,   
taking the reigns for his steed.  
  
"Come, let us warm up while Ranma takes care of things," Nodoka   
said, leading her soon-to-be daughter into their new home.  
  
"Thank you," Kasumi said with a warm smile.  
  
"You're welcome. Now, you were saying that, during the cat-tongue   
incident..."  
  
Their voices trailed off as Kazama turned to him, looking down at   
his new master. The ninja retainer reminded one of a scarecrow, tall   
and thin. Ranma could tell, however, that the man was quite strong and   
fast, despite his ungainly appearance.  
  
"So you're Ranma?" Kazama asked. "You've grown up well since the   
last time I saw you."  
  
"Wha?" Ranma asked, taking his eyes from where Kasumi had   
disappeared to.  
  
"I said that you've grown up well since the last time I saw you,"   
Kazama repeated. "Of course, that was well over eleven years ago, so   
it's only to be expected."  
  
"You knew me as a child?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Oh yes, you used to call me 'unka fwedwike' if I remember   
correctly," Kazama said with a roguish grin.  
  
Ranma darted a quick horrified glance at the man as they walked   
towards where the stables were. Though why a modern-day home would have   
a stable he might never quite understand. Mortis whickered, which   
sounded like a soft laugh, causing Ranma to switch his horrified glance   
to the horse.  
  
Kazama laughed as they walked along, his voice bellowing softly in   
the nighttime air.  
  
***  
  
"Poor Ranma," Nodoka stated, having heard the details of the   
cat-tongue ordeal.  
  
"He did pull through though," Kasumi said with a fond smile, her   
eyes focused on the past. "And he never gave up. That's one thing I   
respect about him, he never gives up. Well, except for..."  
  
Kasumi stopped, thinking of that morning.  
  
"Yes, I've been meaning to ask," Nodoka said calmly, "how it was   
that you were able to get Ranma to come back."  
  
Kasumi looked decidedly uncomfortable, shifting slightly where she   
sat, looking deep into the steaming cup of tea that warmed her hands.  
  
"I... I realized that I loved him, and decided that I didn't want to   
live... without him there," Kasumi said, her voice full of sorrow.   
"After we lost our mother it had just been so... hard on all of us. I   
had lived in a half-daze for years, being thoughtlessly kind to   
everyone, seeing only the best in people, doing all the things that   
nobody else wanted to do."  
  
Kasumi took a slight, shuddering breath.  
  
"But... when Ranma came along, it was as if there was a slight crack   
in my shell, letting a shard of light in to my soul. At first I was   
afraid, partially because he turned into a girl, partially because he   
was so strange and new to me. And, in my fear, I tried to distance   
myself from him, from the influence that was making me look past the   
surface of what was around me.  
  
"No matter how much I tried, though, somehow he was able to get   
close to me. I don't even think that he realized it, I didn't realize   
it at first, but as the days and weeks turned to months I began to rely   
on him for the little things.  
  
"Even if it was a simple thing like cleaning his clothes, or making   
him a simple lunch to take to school, he would always find a way to say   
'thank you', always have that smile of his waiting to come out.  
  
"After a while I began to look at him as sort of a younger brother   
that I had never had, always waiting for the opportunity to help me   
when there was need. But, after the wedding incident..." Kasumi trailed   
off.  
  
"What happened?" Nodoka asked.  
  
Kasumi sighed heavily.  
  
"After the wedding was ruined by Ranma's 'friends', and the   
Naniichuan--which would have cured Ranma's curse--was gone, he stayed   
after, helping me clean up the mess made by the fight. Akane was   
furious at him, I think that she really did want to marry him deep in   
her heart, but as always she let her anger take control of her life.  
  
"Akane blatantly refused to help with the cleanup, saying that it   
was all Ranma's fault anyway, though I have a feeling that, even if it   
had been her fault, she wouldn't have helped then.  
  
"After she left, however, we worked together to help clear the mess.   
For the first time we were able to actually *talk* with one another,   
not just the passing comments and greetings. He told me of what had   
happened at Jusendo, how he had killed a god to save Akane, how he had   
almost lost her, how he had told her that he loved her. And he *had*   
loved her, at the time.  
  
"But... as he talked, and I listened, he came to realize that, even   
if Akane *did* love him, their stubbornness, and her own anger, would   
never allow them to have the kind of relationship that they truly   
needed.  
  
"You see, Akane had never trusted Ranma, she had always expected the   
worst of him, no matter how many times he saved her, or helped her, or   
let her hit him with her mallet to give her a sense of accomplishment.   
Even when her true feelings showed through, and she gave that smile of   
hers that almost made it all worth it to him, the scowl and the harsh   
words would always return soon after.  
  
"I think... I think that was when he decided that he would commit   
seppuku, as we knelt there picking up the pieces of his broken life. I   
think that's when he realized that, no matter what he did, he would   
never be allowed to live life for himself. I also think that's when I   
truly fell in love with him..."  
  
Kasumi bowed her head, a single tear falling into her cooling cup of   
tea.  
  
"You don't have to continue if you don't want to," Nodoka said,   
tears in her own eyes.  
  
"No... it's okay..." Kasumi whispered hoarsely. "I *need* to   
finish..."  
  
Kasumi took another, shuddering breath, then did so.  
  
"When I found him... dead... something in me died as well. I saw the   
blade there and... I just gave up. I wanted to be with him, no matter   
where he was. He brought *life* to my life, and that wasn't something   
that I was willing to lose.  
  
"If he hadn't returned, if he hadn't accepted his position as Death,   
I would have died this morning beside him. But he did, he gave up   
knowing peace, he gave up the chance to just go to heaven, he gave it   
all up... because of me... And that's something that I do *not* want to   
loose."  
  
Nodoka nodded to herself as Kasumi stood up, placing her cup on the   
short table.  
  
"Now I think that I would like to sleep now," Kasumi stated. "If I   
could be shown to my room?"  
  
***  
  
In the hall outside a figure stood in a dark cloak of flowing-blood   
red. The hood was up, covering their features, the cloak itself hiding   
everything but their height. The hood turned slightly as the figure   
listened to the last of Kasumi's words then, with a sound like softly   
rustling leaves, they fell down into the floor, their cloak becoming a   
puddle, which soon shrunk into itself and disappeared.  
  
***  
  
Eye catch...  
  
We see Ranma and Kasumi running across the screen from left to   
right, soon followed by the Nerima Wrecking Crew. P-chan runs across   
the screen after the NWC is past, stops, sweat-drops, then runs towards   
us, hitting with a crash and sliding, slowly, down the other side of   
the screen.  
  
The Nerima Wrecking crew now runs from right to left as if chased by   
the hounds of hell. Directly behind them is Death, swinging it's scythe   
in the air as it chases them.  
  
Kasumi walks into view, looks in the direction that everyone went,   
then holds up a sign. On the sign is written...  
  
RANMA 1/2  
ON A PALE MUSTANG  
BY: GRYPGON AERIE  
  
The screen fades to black, and we wait for a few moments. Soon   
enough Ryoga walks from the left, and looks around. Scratching the back   
of his head he looks at the darkness around him then, with a light-bulb   
above his head, he pulls out a match.  
  
FWIIISH!  
  
The light of the match reveals that he's surrounded by demons.  
  
"Ranma! This is all your fault!" he shouts as the demons descend.  
  
The match goes out, and we hear a scuffle. Moments later it goes   
quiet.  
  
"Where did he go?" One of the demons asks another in the dark.  
  
"Probably got lost," replied another.  
  
The demons laugh, then the screen fades to white.  
  
End of Eye Catch...  
  
(And thank you, Dogmatix, for the idea)  
  
***  
  
Ranma and Kazama entered the house proper, stomping their feet on   
the stone outside the door to knock off the accumulated snow. Once they   
entered they took a deep, simultaneous breath, letting the warmth   
slowly sep into their frames.  
  
Moments later they were walking down the hall towards   
Kazama-knows-where, their slipper-clad feet tapping upon the heavy wood   
floor with each step. The inside of the home was done with dark,   
reddish-colored wood and off-white paper screens, creating a general   
feeling of warmth in their surroundings, a feeling of being. Ranma   
could feel the muscles in his back loosening from their calming effect.  
  
Home.  
  
The only home that he had ever known had been the road. For ten   
whole years, almost his entire childhood, he had been constantly on the   
move, training non-stop to please his father's whimsy, being sold to   
fill his father's stomach.  
  
That had changed when they had coem to Nerima. His home had come to   
be not defined as a collection of forests and a sleeping bag, but as   
the Tendo home. He had a place to *be*, for the first time that he   
could remember. Somebody had cared for him, though he had only later   
realized the fact for just how amazing it was.  
  
Kasumi...  
  
Home...  
  
He felt that, now, his home was not defined by the road, nor was it   
defined by a place to stay and live, but instead was where his heart   
lay. Home was wherever Kasumi was, with her calm presence, her kind   
smile, and her gentle love.  
  
He sighed, and looked over at Kazama.  
  
"Tell me," Ranma asked, "have you ever loved somebody?"  
  
Kazama took one slightly slower step as he thought on this, and   
returned to his original, gliding walk. A thoughtful look crossed his   
plain face, his eyes gaining a far-away appearance.  
  
"I thought I did, once," he answered.  
  
"What happened?" Ranma asked.  
  
"I had to kill her," Kazama stated bluntly, his voice full of pain.  
  
Ranma nearly choked on his tongue.  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
Kazama looked over at him, his eyes filled with pain.  
  
"Her name was Inktomi, named after a spider-god from some foreign   
mythology. She, like I, was shinobi, but of another clan," the man   
said. "We met one day while our masters were meeting with each other,   
and began to talk. After a while we began to date, and we fell in   
love."  
  
"Then, why..."  
  
Kazama sighed.  
  
"There came to be a blood feud between our families, a dept of honor   
that could not be paid in anything but the blood of one's enemies. They   
sent her after my masters one night, and we had a long and furious   
battle.  
  
"We knew that, for our honor, we could not allow ourselves to hold   
back, despite our love for each other. The battle was long, and bloody,   
and waged from one side of this house to another. Hours it took, each   
of us sharing our own score of wounds, the worst of which was the   
wounds in our hearts. We knew how it had to end.  
  
"Finally, as the sun was rising in the east, I got... *lucky*... and   
my blade reached past her defense, dealing a killing blow in her chest.   
I had stabbed through one of the major arteries of her heart, and we   
both knew that she had but moments to live.  
  
"Her last words were to say that she still loved me, and that she   
would be waiting for me to join her when I died..."  
  
The ninja shook his head, and looked at his feet as they drifted   
across the floor.  
  
"I would have joined her then and there, but the Clan needed me. The   
pain never went away, it still hurts... so... But I know, deep in my   
heart, that some day, I will join her, and we will once again be happy,   
I will once again see her smile, the way it made her eyes dance...  
  
"But enough on that. It is time for you to go to bed," Kazama   
finished, suddenly becoming outwardly cold, though Ranma could tell   
that the pain was still lingering, just below the surface of his   
wounded soul.  
  
***  
  
As Ranma lay in bed that night, the moonlight shining through the   
curtains upon the thick bed that he lay upon, he thought of all that he   
had done, seen, and heard that day. The story of the old retainer had   
struck a deep cord in his heart, causing him to think heavily about the   
decisions he was to make in... life...  
  
The pain of the master ninja had been so deep, so firmly rooted, yet   
the man hadn't let it take him down. The man still held that small   
glimmer of hope, still held the love of the woman that he'd had to   
kill, who had still loved him back, despite her fate. It showed Ranma   
that Death was not the end, Death did not bar the love that one has for   
another. Love, and hope, still go on.  
  
"Kasumi..."  
  
He had almost lost her, lost like Kazama had lost Inktomi, lost like   
he had lost hope, the last treasure when *all* else was lost. She had   
been willing, then, to join him, like Kazama would some day join the   
woman that he loved, and still loves, despite what had happened.  
  
But now... Now he was Death himself, come back to the realm of the   
Mortal, where he could feel the dying of everything around him, a faint   
background noise like the hissing fall of the sands of time. And still,   
he did not regret his decision, for it allowed him to be with the woman   
that he loves.  
  
"Kasumi..."  
  
***  
  
"Ranma..."  
  
Kasumi lay on her bed, the silver light of the moon filtering   
through the curtains onto the soft bed upon which she lay. The light   
revealed tears upon her face, tears made of a mixture of sorrow and   
happiness. Sorrow at her past losses, happiness for that which she had   
gained that day.  
  
She had gained the heart of the man that she loved, a man that would   
by by her side, no matter what happened, a man who did not let Death   
bar him from her, a man who loved her, as she loved him.  
  
A soft smile graced her angelic face as she turned her head into the   
light of the moon.  
  
"Ranma..."  
  
***  
  
  
  
How's *that* for a chapter? I must be doing *something* right, if   
you've read this far.  
  
^_^;  
  
I figure that you must be enjoying reading this at least half as   
much as I'm enjoying writing it, so I'll keep up with the good work.  
  
I'm paying my tuition this morning, probably be back in time enough   
to begin on the next chapter. Who knows... Actually wrote this chapter   
in under four hours, at least one of which was spent reading something   
else. So, I guess that would be three hours of work, off and on...  
  
I can't keep this pace and stay sane.  
  
Wait... too late for that... oh well...  
  
C&C welcome, flames will be eaten without salt.  
  
gryphon_aerie@msn.com  
  
This is Gryphon Aerie, signing off...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
^_^; 


	9. Chp 09

On a Pale Mustang  
By: Gryphon Aerie  
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction  
  
Disclaimers:  
Ranma is owned by Rumiko Takahashi  
And yes, 'On a Pale Horse' *is* written by Piers Anthony, though   
this story is only LOOSELY associated with that grand work because   
Death was killed for Ranma to become Death himself. You will (probably)   
not be seeing ANY of the characters from that book. (Of course, I won't   
make any promises...)  
That is all  
  
Notes:  
And, in this chapter, I try my hand at a few action scenes...  
That, and some of my 'irritating' foreshadoing is brought to light!   
(YAAAAAAYYYYY!)  
And yes, the Kunos will make an appearance.  
That is all  
  
  
  
Chapter 09  
  
  
  
***  
  
It was dark, it was hot, and the screams of a million tortured souls   
played in the background like demonic muzak. What light there was came   
from the flames that burst occasionally for no apparent reason, more   
likely than not striking an unfortunate soul, making soul flambe. In   
the intermittent blasts of fiery death could be seen an immense black   
throne, upon which sat a massive figure.  
  
Only the vague shape of the figure could be seen, it's onyx-black   
skin blending in with it's throne as if the two were molded as one. Its   
massive twin curving horns spun from the sides of its head, its sharp   
points creating an occasional gleam.  
  
And then there were its eyes.  
  
Twin balefires, glowing a deep red, the red of a thousand virgins   
sacrificed on a pagan alter, the red of the blood of innocents, the red   
of fire burning deep in the mountains, casting awe and fear upon the   
people below.  
  
Whoever this was was *not* a nice seeming being.  
  
A rustle like leaves hushed above the symphony of agony in the   
distance, in it's wake a pool of dark red forming on the ground before   
the throne. The pool lifted from the floor like a stalagmite, revealing   
itself the figure cloaked in red.  
  
A single, pale skinned hand emerged from the cloak, reaching up to   
the hood and casting it back, revealing twin pools of darkness in a   
pallid, elfin-featured face. A sneer graced that face as its owner   
gazed upon the figure on the throne.  
  
"SO..." the figure on the throne boomed, it's voice echoing in the   
distance, causing the screams of pain to still for a moment before   
returning. "WHAT WORD OF THIS NEW 'DEATH'?"  
  
The man in the cloak bowed slightly, obviously hating to do so.  
  
"The new Death has begun to accept his office, though he knows not   
of his 'fate'," the man said, the last word he spat out like a curse.  
  
"BE CAREFUL, NARIN, LEST YOU CEASE TO BE USEFUL," the demon boomed.   
"AND WHAT OF THE MORTAL GIRL?"  
  
"She is unsuspecting as well, my lord. They *have* no reason to   
suspect," Narin replied.  
  
"VERY WELL," the demon stated, sounding pleased. "WE WILL START WITH   
THE FIRST TEST..."  
  
Narin bowed again and, with another rustle of invisible leaves,   
disappeared from the Demon's hall. Once he was gone the firey eyes of   
the beast burned ever brighter, the evil within shining through. A deep-  
throated laugh boomed from the demon, causing the stone to shake   
beneath the feet of tourtured souls and lesser demons alike.  
  
"AND SO IT BEGINS..."  
  
***  
  
The Scotsman looked up from the scrying mirror he had been watching,   
changing the channel from women's tennis to the football game with a   
wave of his hand. His 'friend' appeared, as always, from the shadows,   
his movements smooth and very nearly shouting 'I am an evil minion of a   
greater evil, fear me'.  
  
Narin's eyes flicked over towards the mirror, humor dancing in his   
soulless eyes for a moment before he looked back to the Scotsman who   
had been Death but a day ago. He slowed to a stop directly in front of   
the shorter man, and opened his mouth to speak, and speak he did.  
  
"Kurolomin is beginning the first of his so called 'tests'," Narin   
stated coldly. "We can only hope that the one you chose is... up to   
it..."  
  
"Och, we dinna hae to worry about tha one, lad," the Scotsman said   
with a smile. "Tis simple enough for the lad to accomplish."  
  
"I do not hold your confidence," Narin stated calmly, turning to the   
mirror. "We shall watch from here..."  
  
***  
  
Tatewaki Kuno awoke at the crack of dawn, his eyes snapping open   
like the shutters on a high-speed camera. The first thing to be graced   
by his eyes was a poster-sized image showing his pig-tailed goddess,   
standing resplendent in a tight leotard.  
  
Oh how her eyes sparkled, oh how her crimson hair shone in the   
light, oh how the sharp lines of her outfit accentuated her bust line.   
And yet, as he worshiped her heavenly visage, he could not help but   
weep that the heavens would allow such evil beings as the dark sorcerer   
Ranma and his demonic ally, Kasumi, to enslave the hearts and souls of   
such healthy and pure maidens as his pig-tailed goddess and the fierce,   
but beautiful, Akane Tendo.  
  
And so, as Kuno got ready for the day, he firmed his resolve that,   
yes, the foul Ranma would die on his blade that day. No longer would   
such evil travesties be allowed to continue in *his* district. After   
all, was it not the duty of noble samurai to strike out against those   
dark and evil of soul?  
  
He did not notice that, as he grabbed his family honor blade, it   
glowed a deep, sickly red. Nor did he notice that, with the sword at   
his side, his movements were more sure, more swift, and more obviously   
deadly.  
  
***  
  
Ranma smiled to himself as he walked beside the fence, the narrow   
channel of water dangerously close nearby. He laughed slightly at that   
thought, thinking that, what with his changes now being apparently   
'random', he didn't have to worry about cold water ever again. Then   
again, Ice did have its own problems...  
  
SLIP!  
  
WHAM!  
  
"Damn it!" Ranma cursed, holding the back of his head.  
  
He never had been very good on ice...  
  
Grumbling to himself he sat up and, with practiced ease, came back   
up to his feet. With a single, last, scathing glare at the offending   
ice, he started once again towards his school. His feet crunched softly   
in the light-packed snow, the insides of his shoes already beginning to   
fill with nearly frozen water.  
  
He reached up a hand and flicked a few flakes of snow that had leapt   
onto his black silk shirt, ignoring the fact that he usually used to   
wear different colors, colors more filled with life. But he figured   
that the color black just came with the job.  
  
He shook his head slightly as the high school came into view. Now   
was not the time to think about Death, now was the time to be   
absolutely bored out of his mind, and perhaps sleep occasionally, while   
teachers droned on about this and that.  
  
***  
  
"I notice that he hasn't changed yet today," Narin stated.  
  
"Aye," the Scotsman replied.  
  
***  
  
Kuno's eyes narrowed as he watched his black-clad quarry enter the   
field of battle. His hated foe was finally to fall beneath the rightful   
blade of the Clan Kuno, freeing Akane and the pig-tailed girl so that   
they could finally admit their feelings of love they held locked away,   
fearing the retribution of Ranma, the most foulest of beings.  
  
His hand grasped the handle of the katana firmly, making him feel   
the coarse weave of the grip against his palm. As he slowly began to   
slide the blade from it's scabbard he relished the smooth feel of the   
metal sliding from it's confines, revealing its brightly silvered   
length to the early light of day.  
  
An evil grin crossed his face as he shifted his grip slightly,   
getting ready for his charge. He could feel it in the air, the feeling   
of power, the knowledge that he, and nobody else, was the best there   
was. Yes, no mere demon-harboring sorcerer could dare stand against the   
mighty wrath of Tatewaki of the clan Kuno. He would reveal Saotome's   
trickery for what it truly was, then lay him to an early grave.  
  
Finally, the vengeance of heaven would be fulfilled...  
  
***  
  
Ranma could feel something wrong in the air as he entered the   
courtyard in front of the school. Something was off, something was   
seriously off, but he couldn't tell exactly what it was. He would worry   
about it later, when he had the--.  
  
"Foul sorcerer! Prepare to meet thy end!" Kuno shouted, coming out   
from behind his customary tree.  
  
Ranma sighed.  
  
"Will you *ever* give up, Kuno?" Ranma asked. "No, wait, stupid   
question."  
  
"Have at thee!" Kuno shouted.  
  
Ranma was then surprised at the new speed with which the kendoist   
came at him, amazed that the insane man could improve so quickly in   
such a short time period. Never before had Kuno came at him with the   
same speed and agility as he was showing now.  
  
He dodged the first hissing strikes of the blade, though just   
barely, once again cursing the fact that he was so low on Chi. Even   
after the meditation that he had done the day before, and the short   
night of sleep he had enjoyed, his reserves were still too low. He felt   
almost as if he was moving through water, so snow was he in the battle.  
  
It came as a shock to him as Kuno landed a blow, the bright blade   
lashing out just a little to swiftly for him to dodge, flashing through   
the thin silk cloth of his shirt and into his body, sending a cold   
shock through him as it came out, trailing droplets of crimson.  
  
He stumbled back, hands clutching at his stomach as his thick red   
blood flowed from between his fingers. He looked up at Kuno in shock,   
noting absently that his blood still clung to the tip of the silver   
blade in the kendoist's hands.  
  
"And so, you see the true might of the Kuno legacy!" Kuno exclaimed,   
holding the sword up high to show the blood upon it. "I have struck a   
blow against the evil powers that Saotome possesses! I, the Blue   
Thunder of Furinkan High, have struck with the Vengeance of Heaven!"  
  
Ranma straightened slightly, hands firmly pressing against the wound   
as his vision blurred slightly. He stumbled a step, then righted   
himself, looking at Kuno with hatred-filled eyes.  
  
"Saotome," Kuno growled. "Prepare to die..."  
  
The blade whispered through the air once more, a silver arc of metal   
in the cold air, and cut deeply into Ranma's left arm, causing him to   
hiss in pain. As the blade came back for another pass Ranma leapt back,   
putting distance between him and his foe.  
  
*Just how is his sword able to hurt me?* Ranma wondered to himself.   
*Damn it, my Chi still isn't replenished enough to do even a simple   
chestnut fist without exhausting myself. Why do things like this always   
have to happen to me?*  
  
As Kuno reared back for his patented multiple-strike, which would   
most like spell the end of Ranma in his weakened state, his sharp,   
battle-honed senses noted a glimmer of dark red deep within the metal   
of the blade. And then he knew how it was that Kuno had gotten so   
good...  
  
*The blade is magical,* Ranma noted. *Figures...*  
  
And Ranma remembered the day before, when Kuno had shown up and   
charged Kasumi and him, how he had reached out into nothingness,   
grabbing the familiar haft of his new weapon, the symbol of his office,   
the source of his powers...  
  
"Yaaaa... TATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!" Kuno shouted as his   
demonically tinted blade flashed forward at an insane rate, the air   
pressure of the strikes shredding Ranma's black silken clothes.  
  
Ranma threw himself away from the insane young man, gaining a few   
seconds as he ran towards him, his blade still cutting through the air.   
Those few seconds were all that he needed, reaching out with his mind   
and soul, reaching out with his hands to grab onto the blackened wood   
haft of his new trademark weapon.  
  
The now familiar weight of the scythe settled into his hands, his   
blood-slicked fingers wrapping around the two jutting handles that came   
from its twisted shaft. He could feel a cold sweep of energy go through   
him and, though it wasn't Chi, as he had used during his life, it was   
something similar, similar enough so that he could use it to keep him   
going during this, hopefully, short fight.  
  
Silver met silver with a loud clash of sparks, causing the two   
blades to shriek and scream to the early morning. The magics of the   
demon realm met its match with the ancient force of Death itself as the   
sword flashed out again and again, seeking Ranma's blood, only to be   
blocked by the razor-honed curve of the scythe in his hands.  
  
Soon enough Kuno's attack began to slow, then stop, allowing Ranma   
to take a step back, breathing heavily. His stomach felt as if somebody   
had driven a red-hot iron into him, twisting it to and fro for their   
own sick amusement. The cut on his arm was afire, screaming abuse to   
him from its movement during its despair.  
  
By now they had gathered quite a crowd, students on all sides   
watching from a semi-safe distance. The mummer of them talking was a   
low roar in his ears as they wondered at what was going on. Why was   
Kuno wielding a real sword. Why Ranma... was using a weapon.  
  
His eyes flickered over to a part of the crowd, noticing that Nabiki   
was gathering bets from the assembled students, gathering money from   
them left and right. Her lackeys also worked the crowd around them,   
fleecing the other teens of their allowances quite readily.  
  
Then, much to the horror and despair of everyone gathered, the worst   
thing that could have happened... happened. Kuno opened his mouth   
and... began to *talk*.  
  
"So! The foul sorcerer shows his true colors at last!" Kuno said   
with a sneer. "Methinks that black fits you, for it matches the   
darkness of your soul, most foulest of demons. But it will help you not   
against the might of the Blue Thunder, for it is written that Evil will   
never prosper. I, Tatewaki Kuno, will fulfill my duty. The Vengeance of   
heaven is slow, but sure..."  
  
By now, of course, Ranma was just about ready to kill himself. Again.  
  
***  
  
"Thas... horrible..." the Scotsman noted. "Inhumane..."  
  
Narin nodded as he pulled his fingers out of his ears.  
  
***  
  
Nabiki winced slightly as Kuno finished his tirade, empathizing with   
the crowd around her as she fleeced yet another witless student that   
thought that Ranma might not win this fight. Many people were asking   
her where Ranma had gotten the weird weapon from, why Kuno had a real   
sword, and all other kinds of questions about the current situation.   
Like where Akane was, for one, and why Ranma wasn't with her.  
  
She had stayed silent on that one as of yet, not quite sure that   
Nerima was ready for the news. Hell, she hadn't been ready for it, and   
she sure as hell wasn't ready for the manner in which it had been   
presented.  
  
She shook her head and looked back to the fight...  
  
***  
  
Kuno began to glow a deep red, the sword in his hands matching him   
with its own blaze of energy. The insane kendoist did not notice this,   
however, as his mind was fully on the task of removing the stain that   
Ranma presented in his little perfect world.  
  
Kuno might not have noticed, but Ranma sure did, his eyes narrowing   
as he looked at the sword his opponent wielded. He knew that, somehow,   
he had to separate the two. The unknown magics of the sword were   
something that he did not need to be worrying about, least of all when   
he was already wounded by said sword, low on chi, and running mostly on   
the supportive energies of his own wicked blade.  
  
Kuno charged once again, his strikes, if anything, even faster than   
before. Ranma leapt to the side, sweeping the ground at Kuno's feet,   
creating an arc of sparks, causing the Kendoist to step back for a   
moment before once again charging in for battle. Ranma stumbled   
backwards, dodging the super-fast blows as well as he could in his   
current state, until his back met the trunk of a tree.  
  
The tree fell victim to the glowing sword as Ranma launched himself   
out of the way, the wood blackening and smoking where the blade had   
struck. Kuno's eyes flashed red as he looked from the tree and, oh so   
slowly, looked over at Ranma.  
  
Ranma then noticed that, for all of the swordsman's insane fury, he   
was weakening quickly from the fight. This was little consolation to   
him, however, as he too was getting weak, the wound in his stomach   
still bleeding onto the ground.  
  
"Have... at... thee..." Kuno mumbled as he charged again, blade   
glowing even brighter.  
  
The snow began to melt beneath Kuno's bare feet, changing to steam   
that hung thick in the air, only to be whipped around by his own   
passing. Once, twice, three times did Ranma gain success in evading   
Kuno's strikes, each one slower than before, until, with a final flare   
of light, Kuno's eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he fell to   
the ground with a dull thump.  
  
Moments later Ranma joined him on the ground, clutching at his   
stomach on pain, his vision blurring as the adrenaline began to leave   
his system. His scythe, which had fallen to the snow, quickly faded   
away, leaving behind only the impression that it had once been there.  
  
Silence fell over the yard as the students stared in shock, the   
students, hardened as they were to the unusual, stood in shock at what   
had happened. It was far from the first time that somebody had used   
magic in a fight against Ranma, but it was the first that Ranma was   
unable to stand immediately after, at least for a few moments.  
  
Ranma slowly reached out, grasping the handle of the demonically-  
tinted blade, pulling it towards him with his left hand as the other   
still clutched at his wound. He reached to Kuno's belt, taking the   
sheath as well, and painfully joined the two with a muted, slithering   
click.  
  
With a sharp breath he grabbed the sheathed weapon, using it   
momentarily as a prop to get to his feet. With slow, deliberate steps   
Ranma walked from the courtyard, the student body parting before him on   
his way to the outer gate. Hundreds of eyes watched him as he left the   
school, the occasional drop of ruby red landing on the snow.  
  
***  
  
Narin and the Scotsman stood there, looking into the mirror as it   
reflected back to them the image of Ranma stumbling through the snow-  
covered streets of Narima, his feet dragging along, leaving tracks   
behind him.  
  
"Well, he lives..." Narin said calmly.  
  
"Not fer long, lad, i' doan seem," the Scotsman replied.  
  
"We will see..."  
  
***  
  
Kazama walked towards the stables, his head cocked to the side as he   
listened to the sounds coming from within. The occasional scraping   
sound, and the odd loud thump, came from the small building as he   
neared it.  
  
Just as he finally reached the door it burst from within, allowing   
Ranma's horse to leap through the opening, it's eyes ablaze with rage.   
It spared a glance for the stunned ninja, then ran off through the   
snow, it's white hoofs kicking up the white powder as it passed.  
  
Kazama followed the horse with his eyes, and shook his head in   
confusion as it disappeared out the main gate.  
  
"I'll never claim to understand horses," he said, then looked at the   
door. "Great... now I have to fix the door..."  
  
***  
  
Ranma stumbled, and put out his right hand, letting the wound on his   
stomach to bleed freely once again. He would have been shocked, then,   
that his hand touched upon the hard surface of Mortis' ribs; however,   
he was much to tired from blood loss, and so he merely leaned forward   
against the side of his horse, leaving a handprint in red, stark   
against the pure white of it's hide.  
  
As he drifted in and out of consciousness he found himself upon the   
saddle, rocking slightly to the soft, gliding stride of the steed. The   
streets of Nerima passed by in a blur, his eyes focused only on his   
hands stuck on the thick, coarse mane in front of him, Kuno's blade   
resting on his knees.  
  
The pain in his abdomen and arm burned at his soul, causing his   
vision to all but go as the world changed to a single mass of white.   
Suddenly the pain left, and he could not feel the horse beneath him,   
nor the mane of hair intertwined in his fingers. He could not feel the   
cold, he could not feel the pain.  
  
The world went dark...  
  
***  
  
Kasumi sighed as she sat, looking out into the snow covered gardens   
of the Saotome home. A single, lonely bird sat upon the bare branches   
of one of the cherry trees, it's feathers fluffed to keep it warm in   
the cold winter's morning air.  
  
Nodoka, noticing the sigh, looked over at Kasumi. The steam rising   
from her teacup drifted between them as Nodoka's warm brown eyes gazed   
upon the woman who had gained her son's heart. A woman that knew her   
son even better than his own mother.  
  
"What's wrong, dear?" Nodoka asked.  
  
Kasumi sat and thought for a moment, wondering at what was bothering   
her. Her eyes gained a faraway look to them as she gazed out into the   
yard, sorting her thoughts.  
  
What *was* bothering her? She had finally realized her love, she was   
free of the open prison that had been her home, she was finally being   
allowed to live her own life... That was it. After all those years of   
constant effort, keeping her home in order, she didn't *have* a life,   
she'd had an existence. She didn't have any hobbies other than her   
tentative interest in traditional healing techniques, and no real   
skills that did not have to do with the house and home.  
  
"I need a... hobby," Kasumi said slowly, turning to Nodoka.  
  
Nodoka smiled at this, and set her cup town with a light tap on the   
table. She stood up, brushing down her kimono, and walked over to   
Kasumi's side.  
  
"Well now, that isn't much of a problem, now is it?" she asked.   
"Have you ever thought about taking up Kendo?"  
  
"Kendo?" Kasumi asked. "I'm not quite sure... the only person that I   
know of that uses kendo is that Kuno boy, who you saw yesterday... I'm   
not quite sure I want to be associated with him... especially if he   
thinks that I'm a *demon*."  
  
Nodoka frowned slightly.  
  
"It is fools like that that give the art a bad name," Nodoka said.   
"The Art itself is not at fault."  
  
"Well... I'm not sure..."  
  
"Why don't you try... for me?" Nodoka asked, leaning down and   
looking into Kasumi's eyes.  
  
"Well..." Kasumi said, thinking about it.  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted by the thunderous sound of hoofs   
pounding the ground, causing the two of them to look up, seeing Mortis   
coming around the corner of the house, a black figure on it's back, red   
tracing down it's sides. The red of blood.  
  
"RANMA!" Kasumi shouted, leaping up and running to his side.  
  
She arrived just in time to catch him as he fell from the saddle,   
landing in her arms, a dead weight. For the second time in as many days   
Kasumi saw Ranma, his skin pale from blood loss, a wound in his belly.   
She stumbled beneath the weight, and half carried, half dragged him   
through the open door to the Saotome living room.  
  
As she lay him upon the floor the fingers of his left hand loosened,   
allowing the sheathed sword that had been held there to fall down with   
a solid thump, drawing Nodoka's eyes. Eyes that flashed in anger, then   
narrowed as her gaze lay upon the tsuba of the Kuno honor blade.  
  
"So..." Nodoka whispered. "It is *those* Kunos..."  
  
***  
  
Akane woke up with a start, her eyes staring at the stark ceiling of   
her room with it's single florescent light. The light of the sun   
reflecting off the snowy world outside glared on her ceiling, causing   
her to wince slightly before sitting up and swinging her legs over, her   
feet softly touching down on the carpeted floor.  
  
"Was it all a dream?" she wondered aloud.  
  
There was only one way to find out...  
  
With a small heave she stood up and walked, still clad in her   
pajamas, to her door, and out into the hall. The trip to the guest room   
was short and uneventful. Uneventful, that is, until she opened the   
door, and looked inside.  
  
Empty.  
  
The tears fell once again as she realized that it wasn't a dream,   
that her anger, and their mutual inability to admit their feelings, had   
driven a permanent wedge between them. That Ranma actually had killed   
himself, then come back from the dead because he loved her sister.   
Loved Kasumi, the kind, soft-spoken, yet strong-willed eldest daughter   
of the overly-emotional Soun Tendo.  
  
Her head dropped in shame and sorrow she stumbled down the stairs,   
and towards the kitchen, hoping that maybe, just maybe, Kasumi was   
there.  
  
Empty...  
  
A quick search showed that not only was Kasumi not there, but many   
of her treasured possessions, things tha5t their own mother had used to   
cook their meals, things that were a reminder to them all of what they   
had lost, were not there any more.  
  
Empty.  
  
Akane felt so empty.  
  
With a low moan she curled up in a ball on the cold hard floor of   
the kitchen, crying her pain away as she thought of all the mistakes   
that they had both made, and of the mistakes that were hers alone.  
  
***  
  
Soun heard the soft cries of his youngest daughter from where he   
stood on the porch. The absence of his eldest daughter, who had held   
not only the home together, but carried him in his state of despair,   
gave proof to what had happened the day before.  
  
And now Kasumi was gone, gone to live with the man that she loves,   
gone to live her own life. For so many years she had supported him and   
her sisters, for so many years she had allowed him to stay in his state   
of almost constant despair over the loss of his own wife, the woman   
that he had loved so much.  
  
Kasumi reminded him so much of her. The way that she walked, the way   
that she talked, the way that all it took was that single look, and   
perhaps the occasional word, to get things into order. Every time that   
he saw her in the kitchen he could not help but think of her, how she   
had loved him so, how she had cherished every moment with him and their   
children, up until the day that she finally wasted away.  
  
And now, after all these years, Kasumi was gone and out of the home.   
She was no longer there to cook, to clean, to keep them happy. And now   
Soun found it within himself to once more become the samurai within, a   
man that took what the fates dealt him stoically, did not allow them to   
lay him low so long as he had life within him.  
  
Now, he had to be strong for his family, once again accept the   
responsibilities that he had been running away from, hiding behind his   
curtains of tears. He had to move on, no matter how much it still hurt.   
And he would.  
  
With a nod to himself he walked from the porch, and to the kitchen, to where his youngest sat crying to herself. He crouched down beside   
her, gently placing his arm over her shaking shoulders, giving her   
comfort in her time of need.  
  
They had both lost something yesterday. But, just perhaps, they had   
gained something as well...  
  
***  
  
Nabiki hung up her cell phone, and looked over to where Kuno lay   
prone on the ground. She could tell that he was alive due to the fact   
that his chest still rose with his breath, though it was slow and   
halting in it's repetition. Whatever Kuno had done with that sword had   
taken it's all from him, and left him wanting.  
  
Moments later the diminutive ninja retainer for the Kuno family came   
along, stopping at his master's side, and shaking his head in silent   
shame. Grabbing Kuno's arms he heaved him up halfway onto his   
shoulders, dragging him back to his home, where he would most likely   
get the treatment that he needed, no matter if he actually deserved it.  
  
Kuno had gone just too far that morning, pulling out a sword of live   
steel. If Ranma chose to press charges she would be all too glad to   
support his claims, as would at least half of the school population.   
That is, if Ranma lived...  
  
Nabiki snorted at that thought.  
  
"Ranma's Death, he probably *can't* die," she said to the empty   
courtyard before heading back into the school for class, her purse   
filled with easy-earned cash, which would most likely be spent on   
takeout, what with Kasumi gone from their home.  
  
***  
  
Well now, Ranma might not be able to die, but he can sure feel like   
he wished he had...  
  
Ranma knew that he was laying on his bed in his new room, an   
additional weight on the bed pulling down his right side. New bandages   
across his abdomen and left arm itched at his cold skin, though he had   
not the energy to scratch them.  
  
In fact, he was feeling just all-around horrible, a splitting   
headache having joined in with the throbbing stinging pain of the sword   
wounds. If he didn't know better he could swear that he was the victim   
of a seppuku ritual gone wrong, the blade only stabbing, not cutting,   
and the second missing and hitting his arm instead.  
  
"Groan..." he stated eloquently.  
  
"Oh my, he's coming to," Kasumi noted. "Ranma, are you okay?"  
  
Sure, it was a Stupid question. At least, it would be if you were   
asking anyone *else* who had just been stabbed in the stomach with a   
demonically magiced blade. For Ranma it was a perfectly reasonable   
assumption that he would be okay, though he might not feel like it.  
  
"No..." he mumbled to he question. "Am I dead?"  
  
Kasumi sighed, and once again checked the bandage that they had   
wrapped around his wounded abdomen for seepage. The white cloth was   
disturbingly clean, as Ranma probably didn't have enough blood to stain   
it. Then she checked his pulse, noticing that it was getting slightly   
stronger as the seconds rolled on.  
  
"No, I think that you'll be okay," Kasumi replied. "If you stay off   
your feet for at least a week..."  
  
Yeah, like *that* was going to happen...  
  
She shook her head, and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder,   
leaning slightly over him and smiling at his pale-featured face. She   
could feel him take a slightly deeper breath through his nose, and   
smiled lightly. She blushed, realizing that he was smelling the scent   
of her vanilla perfume.  
  
His eyes flickered open, twin pools of bottomless cobalt peering   
into endless fields of mist. He weakly reached a hand up and touched   
her hand where it rested on his shoulder, giving it a weak squeeze.  
  
"That's good to hear..." he said softly. "I'd hate to loose you   
again..."  
  
"Oh Ranma..." Kasumi said gently, a warm smile on her face.  
  
***  
  
"SO, HE PASSES THE FIRST TEST," rumbled the demon lord, Kurolomin.   
"PERHAPS HE WILL NOT BE QUITE SO... *LUCKY*... WITH THE NEXT ONE..."  
  
Narin arrived, bowing his head to the demon lord, his long dark red   
hair melting into his blood-like cloak. Despite his humble stance, a   
wicked smile could be seen momentarily on his pale features.  
  
"He is... alive, master," Narin said.  
  
Kurolomin's glowing eyes narrowed in the darkness as he looked at   
his 'humble servant'.  
  
"DO NOT FORGET, LITTLE ONE, WHO IS IN POWER HERE," he said, his   
voice hissing like acid. "DO NOT FORGET WHY YOU ARE MY SERVANT, LEST I   
DECIDE THAT YOU ARE MORE TROUBLE THAN YOU ARE WORTH."  
  
"Never, Lord," Narin said, his dark eyes flashing in anger. "I will   
never forget."  
  
"GOOD..."  
  
With another bow Narin left the demon's presence, leaving the   
massive beast to brood upon it's throne.  
  
"GOOD..."  
  
***  
  
Nodoka walked into the room, Kazama hot at her heels. Their eyes   
glowed in undisguised anger and loathing, though it was not focused on   
any of those present in the room. As soon as they entered the Saotome   
patriarch stopped, raising a hand to send Kazama out of the room, and   
walked at a more stately rate towards where her son lay in his bed,   
Kasumi sitting at his side.  
  
"Son, am I right to assume that this sword is the one you were   
attacked with?" Nodoka asked, walking to the left-hand side of the bed   
and holding up the Kuno honor blade.  
  
Ranma blinked a few times, focusing his eyes, and looked at the   
sword.  
  
"Yeah," he replied after a few moments. "Why?"  
  
"Oh, nothing," Nodoka said, though obviously it wasn't true.  
  
Ranma and Kasumi shared a quick glance, then looked back to his   
mother. A soft red glow--one made by Chi, not the magics of the sword--  
sprang up around her as she turned around and began to walk out the   
room. She stopped only for a moment at the door, the glow softening as   
she did so, and wished him to get better soon.  
  
Ranma shivered, though not from the cold he felt.  
  
"That was... spooky..." he said finally after she left.  
  
"Oh my, I wonder what could make her so angry?" Kasumi asked. "And   
what does it have to do with the Kuno family?"  
  
Ranma could only weakly shake his head, as he had absolutely no idea.  
  
BAMF!  
  
"Not again..." Ranma-chan grumbled.  
  
***  
  
Kodachi shook her head in shame as Sasuke half carried, half dragged   
her imbecile brother through the door and into their mansion. She idly   
noted that he did not have their family's honor blade with him, which   
he had taken with him that morning.  
  
"Oh brother, when will you ever learn that you are no match for   
Ranma-sama?" Kodachi wondered aloud.  
  
With her patented laugh, which almost caused Sasuke to stumble and   
drop the young master, she leapt from her home, twirling her ribbon   
behind her, trailing black rose petals.  
  
"She'll catch her death of cold, going out in that," Sasuke mumbled   
to himself, noting that she was wearing her gymnastics leotard.  
  
He switched his hold on Kuno, grabbing instead his ankles to drag   
the young behind himself, and savored the solid thumping noise that   
Kuno's head made on the stairs, all twenty-three of them, as he carried   
him upstairs.  
  
***  
  
Akane cried long and hard, her tears flowing from her face in a   
manner that reminded Soun of himself, and latched onto him. He hugged   
her softly, giving her comfort in her pain, as he should have done so   
long ago.  
  
"Shh... It's okay, Akane-chan, daddy's here," he soothed. "I'm here   
for you."  
  
Akane could only cry as she snuggled into his arms.  
  
"I'm here for you..."  
  
***  
  
"OH-HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!"  
  
Nabiki looked up from her schoolwork in horror as Kodachi the Black   
Rose leapt into her classroom, trailing her black ribbon behind her   
thinly-clad posterior.  
  
"Tell me, girl," Kodachi started, "where is my Ranma-sama?"  
  
Nabiki looked her dead in the eye.  
  
"Ranma left our home last night," Nabiki said, looking the insane   
gymnast directly in the eye. "I do not know exactly where he is."  
  
That was all true, of course, as he had left their home the night   
before, and she didn't know exactly where he was, though she could   
guess that he was home by now, knowing him.  
  
Kodachi's eyes flashed in fury for a moment, but it was soon   
replaced with a crafty glare. A poisonous smile creepy like a spider   
across her features, reminding one of a snake ready to strike.  
  
"You cannot fool me, peasant," Kodachi stated. "You *will* tell me   
where to find my Ranma-sama, or else you might have a little...   
*accident*..."  
  
Nabiki narrowed her eyes at the threat, but decided, for the moment,   
that discreation was the better part of survival.  
  
"Why don't you try looking for him at his *home*?" Nabiki asked.  
  
"Why, what a *wonderful* idea!" Kodachi exclaimed, leaping out of   
the room in a wave of rose petals.  
  
"I'll get her for threatening me," Nabiki mumbled to herself.  
  
The teacher, showing a minimum amount of intelligence on his part,   
did not bother her for the interruption. No, he would much rather   
*keep* his job, thank you.  
  
***  
  
Nodoka was sitting, drinking a cup of tea in the livingroom and   
looking out into the winterized gardens, Kuno family sword at one side,   
ninja retainer at the other, when an absolutely horrid laugh drifted   
from beyond the walls, it's source soon leaping into sight.  
  
Kodachi landed softly in the yard, standing out in her black leotard   
against the white backdrop of her surroundings quite nicely. With a   
final twirl of her ribbon, which she hid a moment later somewhere on   
her person, she let her laugh trail off, and slowly walked to the open   
door and the room's occupants.  
  
"Tell me, is this the Saotome residence?" Kodachi asked, her eyes   
darting momentarily to the sword lying on the floor beside the woman   
sitting there.  
  
"Who, might I ask, wants to know?" Nodoka asked coldly, noting where   
the girl's eyes had looked.  
  
"I am Kodachi Kuno, the Black Rose," Kodachi said.  
  
Nodoka set down her cup, and slowly stood up, leaving the Kuno's   
sword on the floor at her feet. With a single, smooth, and deliberate   
movement she pulled the Saotome honor blade from it's sheath, letting   
the light from the clear skies outside to glint and shine in Kodachi's   
eyes.  
  
Kazama flowed to his feet beside her, drawing his own short sword   
from the sheath at his side, its blackened blade escaping its sheath   
with not a single sound.  
  
"Yes, this is the Saotome home," Nodoka said coldly. "And I suggest   
that you never return, *Kuno*."  
  
She said 'Kuno' as if it was a horrible curse, and took a ready   
stance with her blade. Kodachi, in reply, took a hesitant step back,   
but soon regained her confidence.  
  
"Oh-hohohohohohohohoho... So you wish to stand between me and my   
Ranma-sama, harridan? You should know your place, peasant," Kodachi   
sneered, taking her ribbon from... wherever, and twirling it above her   
head.  
  
"You should show more respect when speaking to your betters, girl,"   
Kazama growled. "Leave, before we have to *make* you leave."  
  
Kodachi's eyes flashed, and she sent her ribbon snaking out towards   
the ninja, fully expecting it to strike. It was much to her surprise   
when, with a single sweep of his black sword, he cut the end off her   
ribbon, leaving it wanting of several inches.  
  
Dropping the ruined ribbon she sent a trio of clubs at him, which he   
easily deflected, as with the razor-edged hoop that she sent at him.   
Soon enough she got the idea that she was no match for the man, though   
she was loath to admit it, even to herself.  
  
"Very well, I shall leave you with your dignity," Kodachi said. "I   
but wish to know your names..."  
  
"I am Kazama, ninja retainer for the Clan Saotome," the ninja said.  
  
"And I am Nodoka Saotome, head of the Clan Saotome, mother of Ranma   
Saotome," Nodoka said. "And if I ever see you, or any of your clan,   
again on these lands I will not hesitate to strike a killing blow."  
  
Kodachi took a single, stumbling step back, partially at the hatred   
contained in those words, and partially at the words themselves. Then,   
with a single look at the house, she leapt away, disappearing over the   
wall and into the distance.  
  
Once she was gone Nodoka sheathed her blade and, taking the sword   
from the floor, walked back into the house, Kazama close behind.  
  
"I do not want Ranma or Kasumi to know of the past. Is that clear?"   
Nodoka asked him.  
  
"Yes, mistress Saotome," he replied.  
  
"Damn the Kunos," she mumbled as she walked deeper into her home.  
  
"Yes, mistress Saotome."  
  
***  
  
When Nabiki came home she was shocked to find her father sitting at   
the porch, Akane at his side. She was more surprised by what he was   
talking about. It almost seemed as if... as if he was finally going to   
continue the training of Akane that he had failed at so long ago due to   
his own sorrow.  
  
"Daddy?" she said, coming into view.  
  
"Ah, Nabiki-chan," Soun said with a smile. "I was just wondering   
where you were."  
  
"Um... you were?" she asked, puzzled.  
  
"Yes, I was," he replied with a warm smile. "I was saying to myself   
just a moment ago, 'if there is one person that could help me get the   
dojo up and running again, it would be my Nabiki'. Akane, is that not   
right?"  
  
Akane could only nod, happiness evident even through her tears.  
  
Nabiki sat down heavily, shocked at the change that had overcome   
their overly-emotional father. She could see it in his eyes, that spark   
of life that had been missing for so long, ever since their mother...   
left. It was there again, the inner fire, the will to go on, and it   
amazed her in it's power.  
  
"Daddy?" Nabiki asked.  
  
Soun smiled, his mustache shifting around. It was obvious that his   
face was not one used to that expression, but it's opposite twin. To   
see that smile on his face again brought tears of joy to Nabiki's face   
as she latched onto him like she was a small child again.  
  
"Daddy!"  
  
Akane smiled as she saw that her sister had finally realized that it   
had happened. Their father was finally back, after all those years.   
Soun himself smiled an even broader smile as he hugged his daughter to   
himself, enjoying once again being the father he should have been, and   
would once more be.  
  
***  
  
Sasuke looked up from his cleaning as Kodachi stormed in. He could   
tell immediately that there was something wrong with her, as her eyes   
were filled with fury, and she was not moving with her customary grace   
and form.  
  
"SASUKE!" Kodachi shouted.  
  
"Y-y-yes, mistress?" he asked, nervous.  
  
"Tell my, what history does my family have with the Clan Saotome   
that you have not told me about?" Kodachi demanded.  
  
"H-history, mistress? I'm not sure that I follow you," Sasuke said,   
definitely *not* wanting to go there.  
  
The cold flash of fury in her eyes told him otherwise...  
  
"Very well, miss Kuno..." Sasuke acquiesced. "It all started well   
over thirty years ago, when..."  
  
***  
  
The Kuno and Saotome Clans, each with their own history of Samurai   
descent, each with it's own pride, each with their own fortunes.  
  
At one point the Clans had been allies and friends, working   
together, keeping their families in wealth, keeping their family honors   
pure and unsullied. And so it had gone for several generations, the   
unwritten pact between the two keeping them in their own limited power   
in the Nerima district.  
  
But then something happened to split the two apart.  
  
The Kuno family, with its long line of great warriors and cunning   
leaders, fell to the temptation of drugs. It started small, just the   
occasional opium addiction, but soon it became a major problem,   
interfering in their everyday lives, in their business, and their   
friendships.  
  
The Saotome family, disgusted at how the Kunos had fallen, met with   
them one last time, breaking the tenuous union that they shared. The   
head of the Kuno family, enraged at their 'betrayal', their minds   
altered by stronger and stronger drugs and unique chemicals, ordered   
their ninja to go after the Saotome clan.  
  
And so, though they loathed it, the ninjas had to go and do battle   
with their long-time friends.  
  
The battle was quick, and bloody, the heads of both Clans dying in   
the conflict. The once great empires fell in short order, the heirs to   
the families not knowing all that their parents had, not having the   
ability to carry on with the massive interconnecting sprawl that had   
once been theirs.  
  
Those left in charge of their Clans were Godai Kuno, father of   
Tatewaki and Kodachi, and Nodoka Saotome, mother of Ranma. Neither   
quite knew why their parents had warred with each other, but both vowed   
that they would never again associate themselves with the other,   
preventing the chance of further damage to their weakened clans.  
  
But Nodoka did know part of why it had all happened, having found it   
in her father's notes after the funerals.  
  
Nodoka ignored the Kuno clan, living her life to it's fullest,   
hoping that she would never again hear of the Clan Kuno, the Betrayers.  
  
And so, the conflict was swept beneath the collective carpets of the   
government, helped along by their family fortunes and their political   
influences.  
  
Godai, affected by the drugs that his family had given him, turned   
slowly insane, the markings showing up only after his wife died. He had   
retained some of the power of his once mighty Clan by taking a position   
as the Principal of the local highschool, Furinkan High. But, after his   
wife committed suicide, he left the country, leaving his children   
behind to be taken care of by their servants.  
  
He returned, years later, his memory broken and scattered by years   
of heavy drug use, having retreated into a shell of insanity fueled by   
an obsession with Hawaii, and a fetish for cutting hair.  
  
Nodoka, the pain of her parent's death beginning to fade, had   
married a nice seeming young man, not knowing that he had married her   
only for her fortune and family name.  
  
And so she had a son by that man, Ranma, and soon after was left   
behind with nothing more than a suicide pact signed by her own son and   
husband. The Kuno family all but forgotten to her, buried in her   
emotional past.  
  
Though that wasn't likely to stay buried, if Kodachi or her brother   
came back to her home.  
  
***  
  
Sasuke flinched at the anger-filled eyes of Kodachi as he finished   
his tale. He had never wanted to let them know of this, instead wishing   
for the past to remain in the past.  
  
"So, the actions of my grandparents caused this... this... *war*   
between our families? Is that why Ranma-sama always evaded my love? Is   
that why he always shunned by presence?"  
  
"It is not in my right to say," Sasuke stated.  
  
"Humph!" Kodachi exclaimed, then walked stiffly out of the room.  
  
Moments later the sound of her feet stomping on the stairs met his   
ears, causing him to flinch repeatedly.  
  
"Why do I have the feeling that I'm going to regret telling her   
that?" he asked himself.  
  
***  
  
  
  
Well now, a blood feud between the Saotome and Kuno families isn't   
that original, nor is Kuno using a magical blade. Of course, what with   
Ranma definitely not being 'at his best', so to speak, the outcome of   
that fight was not the norm. After all, how many times does Kuno almost   
kill Ranma in a fic? Really?  
  
Sigh...  
  
Okay, tell my if I *completely* messed up the story with this. Not   
that I'll take it back, but I would just like to know, for posterity's   
sake. The feud will be a small part, as there are grander things at   
work here.  
  
I did bring some of the foreshadowing to the fore, shedding *some*   
light on the situation. Then again, I did end up hinting at a few other   
things in the process... Gotta keep you reading, don't I?  
  
Well, this will probably be the longest chapter I write for a while,   
keeping to my nice, 20k size chapters. Notepad can't keep more than 33k   
before it crashes on my system, for some reason. Sigh. But still, I   
figured I'd try, at least once, to write a bigger chapter.  
  
I figure that, if you've read this far, I don't need to depreciate   
my own writing abilities, seeing as you *must* like it enough to read   
it. And now, without further ado...  
  
C&C welcome, flames will be eaten without salt.  
  
gryphon_aerie@msn.com  
  
This is Gryphon Aerie, signing off...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
^_^; 


	10. Chp 10

On a Pale Mustang  
By: Gryphon Aerie  
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction  
  
Disclaimers:  
Ranma is owned by Rumiko Takahashi  
And yes, 'On a Pale Horse' *is* written by Piers Anthony, though   
this story is only LOOSELY associated with that grand work because   
Death was killed for Ranma to become Death himself. You will (probably)   
not be seeing ANY of the characters from that book. (Of course, I won't   
make any promises...)  
That is all  
  
  
  
Chapter 10  
  
  
  
***  
  
Ranma was doing something that was quickly becoming a quite   
disturbing habit.  
  
He was thinking.  
  
There were many things on his mind as he lay there, an invalid in   
his bed. And, for a change, he actually had the time, and peace, to   
work things out.  
  
Just the other day his plans to escape from the honor-bind that was   
his life had finally succeeded, as he killed himself in an age-old   
ritual, cleansing the honor of his Clan, which had been tainted by his   
father's mindless actions.  
  
But things changed yet again when he met Kasumi's mother, realizing   
that he loved her as he floated there in the place that souls went to   
be judged. And so, he had killed Death, to become Death, to return to   
the land of the living, save Kasumi from herself, and find his own   
heart, which he had left behind.  
  
Ranma began to roll over in bed, but thought better of it as his   
wounds spoke out none-too-calmly. With a wince he settled back, and   
once again stared at the ceiling to his new bedroom. A hissing intake   
of breath once again brought to him the lingering, vanilla flavored   
aroma of Kasumi, who had left to help his mother with dinner just   
minutes before.  
  
Okay now, he was Death, but he was a martial artist. Death   
personified itself in the ending of the lives of others, while a   
Martial Artist was concerned with defending life at all costs. He had   
died, yet he lived again.  
  
What was he?  
  
"Ranma?"  
  
Yes, that's what he was, he was Ranma. No more, no less, he was   
simply himself. But still, what was he?  
  
"Ranma?"  
  
"Huh?" Ranma asked, shaking himself out of his self-contemplative   
mood.  
  
"What's bothering you, Ranma?" Kasumi asked, walking into the room   
and once again sitting at his side.  
  
Ranma sighed.  
  
"Oh, I was just wondering about what I am now," he replied, closing   
his eyes for a moment. "I mean, am I still Ranma, the best martial   
artist in the world, or am I Death, the most feared thing there is?"  
  
"Oh Ranma," Kasumi said softly. "You are whatever you make yourself   
to be. Anyone that fears you is either a fool, or is foolish enough to   
be your enemy. I don't care *what* you are, you're *still* my   
Ranma-sama..."  
  
He sighed, and opened his eyes.  
  
"Thank you, Kasumi-chan," he said, a gentle smile gracing his face.   
"When's dinner?"  
  
Kasumi laughed, then stood up, looking down at him with mirth-filled   
eyes. That's one of the things that she liked about him. No matter how   
serious the conversation, he could always find some way to make her   
laugh. She was truly beginning to appreciate that.  
  
"It's done already," she replied. "I was coming up here to see if   
Ranma, the 'big bad martial artist', felt up to walking to the dining   
room, or if Ranma the 'invalid patient' needed his food brought to   
him."  
  
Ranma laughed, though it pained him to do so, at the playful tone   
she used with those words.  
  
"I think I might like to walk there, if Kasumi the 'big bad fiancee'   
would help me," he replied with a grin.  
  
Kasumi laughed that special laugh of hers, making Ranma's pain seem   
that much more trivial when compared to the chance of pleasing her, the   
woman that he loves. Now, just if he could keep from eating his foot   
along with everything else the evening might just be perfect.  
  
Yearight, like *that's* going to happen...  
  
BAMF!  
  
"Dammit..."  
  
***  
  
Nodoka smiled as Kasumi half carried her son--er... daughter--into   
the dining room. Ranma-chan was stumbling slightly as she walked into   
the room, her right arm supported over Kasumi's slightly higher   
shoulders, Kasumi's left hand tucked against the red-heads ribs on the   
other side. Ranma smiled faintly, the strain of moving after losing   
almost all of her necessary blood almost too much for her.  
  
Food was just what she needed, and food was what she was going to   
get, for a small banquet was set out in honor of her child's first   
dinner at home in slightly over eleven years. Her smile widened as she   
saw Ranma-chan's eyes widen in surprise and joy at seeing the spread of   
food in front of them, completely missing the fact that the chopsticks   
were made of pure ivory, the bowls of fine china, and the tea-cups   
rimmed in gold.  
  
"Wow..." Ranma-chan whispered in awe as Kasumi set her down at the   
low table.  
  
"Thank you, Ranma," Kasumi said, smiling as she sat beside her   
fiancee, making sure to be there in case the girl had any troubles.   
"Shall we eat?"  
  
***  
  
Kodachi sighed as she played with the food on her plate.  
  
Ever since Sasuke had told her about the past of the Kuno and   
Saotome families something had... died in her. She had tried to tend to   
her roses earlier, but she just could not find the enthusiasm that she   
had known for so many years. And now she knew why the Saotome family   
hated them so.  
  
Drugs...  
  
She sighed, and looked over at her father where he sat, so far away   
at the massive table, the palm tree on his head bobbing slgihtly as he   
listened to the hula music that played in his own mind. Even from here   
she could see the distant look in his eyes, the almost opaque   
sunglasses that he wore sitting on the table beside his left hand.  
  
Drugs, and insanity.  
  
Kodachi dropped her silverware on her plate, the metal clattering on   
the rim, and stood up. Her father did not even glance over as she   
walked slowly out of the room, though she could see Sasuke's small eyes   
following her as she left.  
  
Perhaps it was time that she looked at the world differently, took   
off her rose-tinted glasses, and saw her life for what it was. Her   
home, her father's home, was a prison, a mad house. She herself had not   
been immune to its effects, nor the effects that her family's dark   
past.  
  
Maybe it was time that she lived as herself, not as the 'Black   
Rose', a mask she had worn in shame of her own feelings of sorrow at   
her mother's suicide, a mask she had worn to hide her true self from   
the world around her, a world that could hurt her, as her mother's   
death had hurt her.  
  
She took one last glance at the open door to the dining room, then   
looked away, heading up the stairs and to her room.  
  
She had some thinking to do...  
  
***  
  
Kuno awoke slowly, noting absently that he was somewhat low on   
energy at the moment, and blinked his eyes open. Once again, for the   
second time in one day, he awoke to the vision of his pig-tailed   
goddess in her leotard, the bright lights of the arena where she had   
faced off against his insane sister shining behind her.  
  
And yet, he knew that she was still the slave of Ranma Saotome, the   
foul sorcerer who had used his black magics to seal her away, stealing   
her soul and her... body... Such foul things he must have forced her to   
commit, such travesties, ridding her of her purity...  
  
"Saotome..." he groaned. "I... fight... on..."  
  
***  
  
Shampoo looked up from her bowl of ramen and across the table, where   
her one-time rival, Ukyo Kuonji, slumped. In the background she could   
just barely hear the furious quacks of Moose, who was still secure in   
his cage. She hadn't told him, yet, that she wasn't still going after   
Ranma as a husband. She didn't want him to get the wrong idea.  
  
She sighed, causing the okonomiyaki chef to look up from where she   
had been playing with her ramen. Ukyo's brown eyes showed understanding   
at the Amazon's feelings, as she was feeling much the same at the   
moment.  
  
"Shampoo wonder if Ranma ever forgive her for what she has done,"   
Shampoo said sadly. "Shampoo try to take advantage of Ranma many time,   
she no think she worthy of forgiveness..."  
  
Ukyo sighed heavily, and dropped her chopsticks into the bowl with a   
muted plop.  
  
"Shampoo-honey, if *anyone* can forgive us for what we've done, it   
would be Ranma," Ukyo said, a sad smile crossing her face. "The real   
question is if we can forgive ourselves..."  
  
"Is so," Shampoo confirmed.  
  
They both sighed at the same time, and went back to playing with   
their ramen.  
  
"I heard that Ranma and Kuno got into a fight this morning," Cologne   
said from the kitchen, causing the two girls to look over. "The damn   
fool was using a cursed sword, I could feel the taint from here."  
  
"Is... is Ranma okay?" Ukyo asked for the both of them.  
  
Cologne looked over her shoulder, her beady eyes glinting in the   
light for a moment.  
  
"He lives," Cologne said. "Though you two might want to go check on   
him, see if he wants any company."  
  
The two girls were out the door in a flash, their chopsticks   
clattering to the table. Cologne could only laugh softly to herself as   
she turned back to her cooking. The steam from the cooking noodles in   
front of her, heavy with the spices that they used, filed her head once   
again, causing her to sigh in contentment.  
  
***  
  
Although he didn't know what was going on, Moose could tell that   
Shampoo was sad about something, sadder than she had been when the   
'wedding' had been ruined. He knew, for a fact, that Ranma had dome   
something yet again to hurt *his* Shampoo. He must have his revenge...  
  
Now, if only he could get out of this damned cage...  
  
***  
  
Ranma-chan sighed as she finished her thirteenth plate of food, her   
stomach finally satiated. Ranma-chan could already feel the strength   
returning to her body, it's battle-honed healing abilities already   
replenishing her blood supply, and her energy, with the immense meal   
she had just eaten.  
  
She let out a soft belch, causing Kasumi to look over at her and   
giggle slightly. Her mother looked over, a slightly disapproving look   
in her eyes, but let the subject of her manners go for now. Ranma-chan   
at least had the descency to blush, causing Kasumi to place her arm   
over the shorter girl's shoulder.  
  
"I take it you liked the meal?" Kasumi asked warmly.  
  
"Yea," Ranma-chan replied. "Thanks guys, I feel a lot better now."  
  
"You're welcome," Nodoka said with a smile.  
  
BAMF!  
  
Ranma blinked, and looked down at his chest, confirming that he had,   
once again, changed sexes without water being a factor. Yet another   
mystery to solve when he had the... time... He reached down and   
scratched at the bandage that crossed his wounded stomach, noticing   
that the pain from earlier was gone then, much to the shock of his   
audience, he began to unwrap the cloth from his body.  
  
Kasumi gasped, and reached out to stop him, her hands meeting his.   
He looked over at her, a look of firm resolve on his face, and   
overpowered her, removing the bandage despite her attempts to stop him.  
  
"Ranma, what do you think you're doing!" Kasumi scolded. "Stop that   
this mo... ment..."  
  
The two women gasped as the last of the white cloth was removed,   
revealing the undamaged skin of his stomach. Not even a scar was left   
of what had once been a killing wound, his skin firm and smooth and   
glowing in the light of the dining room.  
  
Kasumi reached out a tentative hand, touching the skin as if to   
confirm to herself that it was real. She gasped again as her fingers   
came into contact with the velvet-smooth skin, feeling the muscles   
beneath contract slightly at her touch, feeling like cords of iron. She   
felt along the skin, noting that not a single mark was left on his   
firm, and finely sculptured stomach. Then she realized what she was   
doing...  
  
"Oh my!" she said, taking her hand from him and placing it at her   
chest.  
  
Moments later he was removing the bandages from his left arm,   
revealing that that wound had faded and disappeared as well, leaving   
his body healthy and whole. He smiled at this, them smiled at Kasumi,   
reaching out with his right hand to take hers, the one that she had   
touched him with earlier. With her hand in his he pressed it against   
where the wound had been on his arm, and looked into her eyes.  
  
"Oh... my..." Kasumi said slowly, marveling at the firmness of the   
muscles there. A blush crossed her face, causing her to look, if   
anything, even more attractive.  
  
A knock came from the door, causing them to look over and see   
Kazama, the ninja retainer of the Saotome Clan. He stood in the   
doorway, a humored smile on his face as he watched Kasumi pull her hand   
from Ranma's arm, folding it in her lap and looking prim.  
  
Over his shoulders could be seen the heads of Ukyo and Shampoo   
peeking, worried looks on their faces even as they buried the feelings   
of envy at the closeness of the new couple.  
  
"There are two young ladies here that wish to speak with Master   
Ranma," Kazama said calmly.  
  
Nodoka's eyes noted who they were, and she nodded slightly to him,   
telling him that they were safe, for the moment. She then looked over   
at Ranma in askance, which he noted after a few uncomfortable seconds.  
  
"Uh... sure," Ranma said to Kazama.  
  
Twin sighed of relief came from the two young girls as the ninja   
stepped to the side, allowing them into the room. Their steps were   
hesitant and cautious as they walked, of so slowly, over to the table.   
Ukyo nudged Shampoo slightly, prompting her to speak first. Shampoo,   
having nothing of that, nudged her back, and gave her a look.  
  
"Um... we heard ya got in a fight with Kuno earlier and, uh..." Ukyo   
started, but stopped when she got nervous.  
  
"Ranma is okay, yes?" Shampoo asked, picking up their side of the   
conversation.  
  
Ranma relaxed, then answered.  
  
"Oh, yeah," he said. "Nobody as stupid as Kuno could hurt me."  
  
He didn't see he slap coming, as it came from a completely   
unexpected source. He put a hand to his face, wincing in pain as he   
looked over at the not quite so serene Kasumi, who was sitting with her   
arms folded across her chest.  
  
"What?!" he asked, hurt.  
  
"Ranma, you shouldn't joke about this. You almost got killed!"   
Kasumi scolded. "I don't want... I don't want to loose you again..."  
  
Ranma looked nervous for a moment as Kasumi broke down into tears,   
his arms waving in the air as he thought of what he could do to make   
her happy again. Finally, exasperated, he decided to just hug her,   
rocking back and forth with her in his arms. After a few moments Kasumi   
began to calm back down, then began to giggle at Ranma's babbling as he   
tried to comfort her.  
  
Ukyo and Shampoo could only stand there, their mouths agape in shock   
as Ranma showed his somewhat clumsy affection for the older girl,   
telling her again and again that he loved her, and that he wouldn't   
leave her, no matter what.  
  
"Um... I guess you're okay so, uh..." Ukyo said, trailing off as she   
watched Kasumi glomp onto *her* Ranchan... No, just Ranchan now...  
  
"We go now," Shampoo said, blinking tears out of her eyes as she   
grabbed the frozen chef by the arm, dragging her stumbling behind her.  
  
Nodoka and Kazama could only shake their heads in amusement as they   
watched the whole proceedings.  
  
***  
  
"SO," the demon lord said to himself. "HE HAS LEARNED HOW TO HEAL   
HIMSELF. THIS IS... UNEXPECTED..."  
  
Kurolomin sat back in his massive throne, resting his spiked elbows   
on it's stone arms, and touching his claws together before his demonic   
visage. He narrowed his eyes for a moment as he thought, smoke wafting   
for a moment from it's sharp-toothed maw.  
  
"QUERMA!" he bellowed. "COME BEFORE ME!"  
  
A shadow appeared in the darkness, taking form in front of the   
massive dias. Only a vague shape could be seen, that of a gaunt, yet   
humanoid shape. It's eyes flashed from a moment, a bright blue, before   
disappearing again into the darkness that was it's being.  
  
"Yesssss..." Querma hissed.  
  
"YOU ARE TO GO TO THE MORTAL PLANE AND... REMOVE SOME OF THIS NEW   
DEATH'S 'FRIENDS'," Kurolomin said with a dark sneer. "GO, NOW..."  
  
"Yesssssssssss..."  
  
***  
  
"WHAT A HAUL! WHAT A HAUL!" Happosai laughed as he rode upon Genma's   
shoulders, a massive pack strapped to the obese martial artist's back.   
"FASTER, GENMA!"  
  
Genma couldn't reply, as he was too busy running for his life, a   
crowd of immense proportions just behind him, and gaining fast. Sweat   
was flying from his head, and his white bandanna was already soaked,   
his Gi quickly getting there.  
  
***  
  
Ranma finally stopped babbling as Kasumi's giggles registered in his   
mind. He went quiet, listening to the gentle tones of her laughter, and   
a smile crossed his face. Kasumi was still shaking in his arms, but it   
was more from nervous relief and heart-felt laughter than from the   
shock of the anger that he had taken his almost-death so lightly, when   
he knew that she had been willing to join him in his grave the day   
before, and still would.  
  
"Ah... you gonna be okay, Kasumi?" he asked.  
  
She nodded into his chest, causing her hair to tickle him slightly.   
He shifted nervously, causing her to take her face from his chest and   
look up nervously into his eyes. He smiled at her, and she smiled back.  
  
"Well, that was eventful," Nodoka said, interrupting their moment of   
unspoken communication. "So, Kazama, what are we having for desert?"  
  
Ranma slowly let go of Kasumi, and she settled back to her seat,   
looking around for a second to try and spot the two girls that had been   
there but moments ago. He, in turn, also looked around for them, and   
they came to the unanimous decision that they must have left.  
  
"I made some of my 'burnt cream', Mistress Nodoka. I hope you still   
enjoy it..." Kazama offered, giving her a calculating look. "If not,   
I'm more than willing to eat your share..."  
  
"You must definitely will not, Kazama-san!" Nodoka scolded. "You   
will *not* be eating my burnt cream, if you know what's good for you!"  
  
Kazama bowed, his eyes dancing with mirth, then left to get the   
dessert.  
  
***  
  
Nabiki and Akane sat in the kitchen, watching on in horror as their   
father, wearing one of Kasumi's frilly pink aprons, was working   
furiously to cook them a simple dinner.  
  
"Oh! Don't burn! Don't *burn*!" Soun pleaded the rice.  
  
Make that... *trying* to cook dinner...  
  
"Wow... I guess we know where your cooking skills come from now, eh   
Akane-chan?" Nabiki remarked.  
  
"Na*bi*ki!" Akane scolded.  
  
"Well, it's true!" Nabiki defended.  
  
***  
  
"WHERE IN THE HELL AM I NOW?!" Ryoga shouted to the dark sky above   
him.  
  
"Heh... you have no idea how true that is," said a sneering voice   
from behind the eternally lost boy.  
  
"Huh?" Ryoga asked, turning around.  
  
The figure that had been standing behind him was short, perhaps four   
feet at the most, but it more than made up for it's lack of stature by   
ranking a high score in the ugliness department.  
  
It's skin was dark red and mottled, the occasional patch of fur or   
scales gracing it's skin. The rest was leathery, and cracked, and   
oozing in places just to break the monotony.  
  
Three horns cursed it's head, two on one side, one on the other. The   
one on the right side was twisted like a ram's horn, while the two on   
the other side were thin and warped, going every which way, often   
intersecting.  
  
A lopsided sneer peeked from it's hideous and deformed face,   
revealing row upon row of sharp, needle-like teeth beneath it's   
massive, off-sized yellowed eyes.  
  
Ryoga screamed like a little girl, then ran off, immediately getting   
lost in the process. The demon, who had been left behind, reached up a   
taloned hand and scratched the back of it's head.  
  
"What's with him?" the demon asked itself.  
  
"He's a Hibiki," came a reply from another passing demon, this one a   
short blob of what appeared to be motor oil.  
  
"Oh," the first demon said, as if that explained everything.  
  
Perhaps it did...  
  
***  
  
Ranma sighed as he looked up at the ceiling of his room, and settled   
back into the sheets to get more comfortable. The light of the just   
rising moon was beginning to glow through the curtains, shedding their   
brightness across his blanket-covered body.  
  
"I don't understand women," he said to the empty room, then rolled   
over onto his side.  
  
While he was grateful that his wounds were gone, and his energy   
returning, it still bothered him that he hadn't been able to dodge the   
young man's blows, even considering his weakened state earlier. And   
another thing, hadn't he barely felt Akane's mallet blow the day   
before? If so, then why was he hurt by the sword strikes?  
  
He thought back over the two occasions, and realized the main   
difference between the two. He had been wearing the cloak when Akane   
had went for him, whiel he'd had it back over his shoulders when Kuno   
had been fighting him. Could it be that the cloak protected him when he   
wore it? It only made sense that it would...  
  
And the strange power that had come from the Scythe when he had   
weilded it, giving him enough strength to keep on going, dispite his   
weakness and wounds. It had been like his own Chi, but it had been   
different... Colder...  
  
Wait... if heat was energy, then cold was the lack of energy... If   
life was energy, then death was the lack of energy... Death was cold.   
He remembered back to the morning before, when he had the cloak around   
him as they walked down the hall for their confrontation. He had been   
spreading enough cold in the warm upper part of the house for Kasumi   
and Cologne's breaths to steam the air.  
  
"Soul of ice..." Ranma muttered to himself.  
  
He rolled over onto his other side, his arms automatically adjusting   
the thick blankets to rest evenly on his frame. The light of the moon   
shined directly into his eyes, and he had another revelation.  
  
If Death was the lack of energy, and light was energy, then darkness   
would be a lack of energy. If so, he would have power over darkness as   
well. It made sense, as Death often was said to come in the night.  
  
He had healed himself after eating a large meal, the energy from the   
food allowing him to fix the damage that had been done to his body and   
his soul, replenishing his own Chi. If so, that means that he could   
take the energy and, like his own Chi, use for different things. Like   
healing, for instance, and creating a Chi blast.  
  
To further that thought, when he had made the air cold, had he been   
removing the energy from it in the form of heat, replenishing his own   
supply by some small amount? If so, that meant that the heat that had   
been there hadn't been enough, or the duration of the 'drain' hadn't   
been enough, for him to make a significant gain in energy.  
  
He flipped onto his back, forgetting to adjust the blanket. His left   
leg met the slightly cold air, causing him to pull it back beneath the   
covers. He frowned.  
  
"Cold..."  
  
He didn't know of what use it would be, to know of this, but somehow   
he had the feeling that he would need the knowledge at some time. After   
all, he *was* Death, though he didn't know what it really meant, if he   
didn't actually take any of the lives. He shivered at the thought of   
draining the life from somebody, making it his own. The idea alone made   
him feel sick to his stomach.  
  
With a final sigh he closed his eyes, and went to sleep...  
  
***  
  
Cologne blinked awake as a cold wind whipped through the bare   
branches of the trees outside, causing them to shift and groan as if in   
pain. She sat up in bed, clutching her thick blanket to her chest, and   
looked out the window, her eyes wide open in horror. She could feel a   
heavy presence of evil, a dark taint in the spirit of the world, come   
into being nearby.  
  
"An omen..." she muttered.  
  
Something *bad* was about to happen.  
  
***  
  
In an abandoned lot in the middle of the currently quiet district of   
Nerima a shadow took form, bleeding from the darkness of the scattered   
rubble around it, taking shape in the cold light of the moon. It's eyes   
flashed bright blue for a second, and it turned around, looking at it's   
surroundings.  
  
"Sssooo many ssssoulssss..." Querma said, sounding pleased with   
itself. "Ssssooo much darknesssss..."  
  
With a final glance at the moon it turned and leapt into the shadows   
of a nearby alleyway, the only mark to show that he had been there   
being two heavy footprints in the otherwise unsullied snow. A soft,   
demonic laugh floated over the district, causing the moon to   
momentarily waver in intensity.  
  
The hunt was on...  
  
***  
  
  
  
Mua-hahahahaha!  
  
Yes, it is yet *another chapter*!  
  
Well now, Ranma is beginning to figure out some of the 'perks' that   
come with his new office. But will he figure out in time enough to save   
his friends from the shadow that is Querma? Read on and find out!  
  
C&C welcome, flames will be eaten without salt.  
  
gryphon_aerie@msn.com  
  
This is Gryphon Aerie, signing off...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
^_^;  



	11. Chp 11

On a Pale Mustang  
By: Gryphon Aerie  
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction  
  
Disclaimers:  
Ranma is owned by Rumiko Takahashi  
And yes, 'On a Pale Horse' *is* written by Piers Anthony, though  
this story is only LOOSELY associated with that grand work because  
Death was killed for Ranma to become Death himself. You will (probably)  
not be seeing ANY of the characters from that book. (Of course, I won't  
make any promises...)  
That is all  
  
  
  
Chapter 11  
  
  
  
***  
  
Night fell in Nerima, as it always did, dispite the magical and  
supernatural occurances that plagued that most chaotic of districts. And,  
as it was night, most everybody was laying in their beds sleeping  
peacefully...  
  
Peacefully, perhaps, for most. But not for all...  
  
***  
  
Kasumi lay beneath the thick blankets of her bed, her body, hidden  
by the thick bedding, curled up in a ball. Her shoulders, her entire  
body, quaked slightly beneath the covers, and the occasional painful  
moan escaped from deep within her.  
  
Her face, shadowed by the moonlight from the room's window, was  
twisted into a mask of pain and sorrow, her lips quivering slightly. A  
single tear escaped from the corner of her eye, tracing along the line of  
her eyelashes, finally falling to it's death upon the pillow below.  
  
"Momma..."  
  
***  
  
This dream began, as many had before, with her as a child, helping her  
mother in the kitchen. In this one she was standing up on a little  
footstool, on tips of her toes, trying to wash the dishes in the sink.  
Soapy water steamed before her as her little hands grabbed another bowl,   
using the little washcloth to wipe it out.  
  
She looked over at her mother as she finished cleaning the bowl and  
turned around with it in her hands. Her mother smiled fondly at her,  
and wiped her hands on her apron.  
  
But then the dream turned into a nightmare...  
  
She could feel the slippery, soapy grip that she had on the bowl  
began to fail. She tried, oh so hard, to keep her tenuous hold on the  
dish, but it was just too heavy... It fell, spinning slowly, ever so  
slowly, through the air... Thousands of little pieces exploded from  
where the bowl had once been, littering the floor... She looked up, and  
into her mother's eyes.  
  
A look of betrayal was in those eyes, though she knew that, in real   
life, she had only looked upon her in love and forgiveness This, however,   
was a nightmare, and not a true memory...  
  
Chains burst from the walls of the kitchen, wrapping her arms and legs  
in their uncaring, yet menacing grasp. She tried to run out of the room,  
but the chains held her back, mere inches from freedom. Their cold, iron  
grip tightening as tears filled her eyes, blurring what she saw beyond  
the open doorway...  
  
Freedom...  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO--"  
  
***  
  
"--OOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"  
  
Kasumi burst up from where she had twisted in her bed, sitting there  
clutching her hands to her chest. Her breath came out in short, rapid  
bursts as her gray eyes darted wildly around, looking for the chains, the  
chains that bound her to the kitchen, the chains that denied her   
freedom...  
  
Nothing...  
  
She sighed in relief, and lay back into the bed for a moment,  
staring up at the wooden ceiling that shone in reflected moonlight from  
her bedding. Her breathing began to slow, her muscles relaxing little by  
little as she lay there, taking comfort in her new surroundings...  
  
Ever since her mother had left, leaving her in charge of keeping the  
home, the kitchen, and the family intact, she had had these dreams. At  
first they were not bad, just normal memories with an ill,  
uncomfortable feeling attached to them but... Over the years, as she  
realized that there was no escape, they had become worse... and  
worse... Finally, when she graduated high school, and was unable to  
continue on to college as she had wanted, they had changed for the  
worse.  
  
Always they started with the memories but, at some point in the  
dream, they would turn dark, twisted from their original meaning into  
something cold, and hurtful. And the chains... always the cold iron  
chains, holding her there, cooking, cleaning, always held from her  
freedom in their unfeeling grasp... So close, and yet so far...  
  
For years they had come, every night haunting her sleep, the  
memories of them, still as sharp as her knifes, haunting her day.  
Always they were there, causing her to try to ignore them, concentrate  
on her work, keep her mind off of... them.  
  
But, when Ranma had shown up...  
  
For the first time in years she knew a decent night's sleep, and  
thought herself finally free of the night terrors. She cursed  
herself, then, for foisting him off on her little sister because she  
had been scared. Scared because he turned into a girl, scared  
because... he was something new, something that didn't fit in her own  
little prison.  
  
But, as always, the dreams came back. They came back when she  
realized that she didn't have a chance with him, just as they had come  
back when she had realized that Tofu would never see beyond his own  
obsessions to see the real her. They came back, and once again they  
made a horror of her simple life...  
  
With a sob of pain she leapt from her bed, her nightgown trailing  
behind her as she ran to the door, then down the hall. Her feet made  
almost no sound on the floor as she practically flew to Ranma's room, her  
hair floating behind her like a long chestnut banner.  
  
***  
  
Ranma was awake the instant that Kasumi hit him, blinking the sleep  
from his eyes even as the older girl latched into him, her tears soaking  
into the blankets that covered his chest. He could more feel than hear  
the sobs that shook her body. Sobs of a great pain, a pain not of the  
body, but of the soul  
  
"Um... Kasumi?" he asked, shocked at her behavior, and not knowing  
what to do. "A... are you okay?"  
  
Moments later he winced, realising that once again his mouth had   
worked much faster than his mind.  
  
He nervously wrapped his arms around her shoulders, gently holding  
her close even as he wondered just what he was supposed to do when the  
girl that he loved came to his room in the middle of the night,  
latching onto him and crying. Well, whatever he was doing seemed to be  
doing *some* good. At least she wasn't crying as hard any more...  
  
"Um... Kasumi?" he asked again.  
  
A soft snore came from her, somehow accomplishing the feat of being  
soft and, well, *cute*. Her breathing was now calm and even, nothing  
like the staccato gaspes that it had escaped moments ago. She snuggled  
deeper into his arms, her head turning to the side, her hair spilling  
over his left arm and down onto the bed beneath.  
  
He couldn't help but smile as the moonlight graced her beautiful  
face, her breath tickling his left arm. Though he was uncomfortable  
being so... close to a girl, the fact that it was Kasumi kept him from  
leaping up and latching onto the ceiling.  
  
Which was a good thing, because he was finding that he actually  
liked this...  
  
He sighed, knowing that he probably wouldn't be getting much sleep  
that night.  
  
The path of a true martial artist is fraught with peril, and his lot  
in life was no different. Well, okay... His lot in life was now a sight  
better than some. He had Kasumi there in his arms, after all.  
  
***  
  
Nodoka smiled, then silently closed the door to her son's room.  
  
***  
  
Kasumi wasn't the only one having nightmares that night though.  
Another girl, one with hair as dark as the night itself, was laying in  
a bed of pure onyx sheets, her face twisted into a mask of rage and  
loss. The light of the moon sliced though the heavy velvet curtains  
like a ribbon of silver, casting it's powers on her beautiful face,  
reflecting to the room the pain that she was living within her own  
mind...  
  
***  
  
Kodachi found herself walking through the halls of their great  
mansion, her slippered feet clacking a hollow echo through the dull  
and lifeless corridors that she traveled. The occasional faceless  
shadow of a servant would pass by, slowing only to bow slightly towards  
her as they went along their way.  
  
She noticed none of this, though, as a sound wailed through the  
dead, tomb-like air. A creaking, groaning sound that reminded her of the  
old sailboat that a friend of her father had one taken them sailing on.  
A true sailboat, not the modern mockeries, its riggings groaning as the  
wind strained at the heavy canvas sails.  
  
Kodachi knew what she was going to find in that room at the end of  
the hall, she always knew, and always would. It had been that way for  
years, ever since she was a little girl and she had found her mother...  
Dead, hanging by a rope in their dimly-lit training hall, one end tied  
around the exposed wood rafters, the other tied around her own neck.  
  
The doctors had said that it had been painless, that she had died  
almost instantly, but they hadn't been there. They hadn't seen the way  
that she still struggled at the rope tied around her neck, they didn't  
see the look of regret in the woman's dark eyes as she realized what  
she had done to herself to escape the madness of her own life. They  
didn't see as she kicked her legs one last time, the life leaving her  
eyes, eyes that haunted Kodachi to this day.  
  
But this time the dream was different...  
  
Her mother was not alone as she hung there, swinging from the  
rafters, suspended by her own neck as the life slowly left her body  
inch by painful inch. Another body swung there beside her, hanging not  
from a rope, but a thick midnight-hued ribbon.  
  
A child, resplendant in a dark crimson dress of the finest crushed  
velvet, bright white lace decorating her cuffs. A child with hauntingly  
familiar eyes, eyes that plead for forgiveness, for compassion, for the  
simple gift of being brought down from her death, to be freed, to live  
again.  
  
The light of youthful joy, still aglow in the child's eyes... began to  
dim, lost to this horrible reality. Lost, but not forgotten. Not yet.  
  
It was Kodachi, Kodachi as she was on that accursed day, when she  
found her mother hanging there. It was the Kodachi that had been lost  
that day, killed by her own hand, a sacrifice on the funeral pyre of  
her own sanity.  
  
It was Kodachi's own childhood, the Kodachi that had died then,  
painfully, beneath the hands of impending madness. The girl reached out  
one pale hand, eyes pleading for Kodachi to save her, and Kodachi spun  
around, refusing to look back at her.  
  
All around her was an immense garden, filled with rose bushes  
bursting with bright red blooms. The sun shone bright on the  
carefully-tended bushes, shone upon the bright green grass beneath her  
feet, sparkled on the morning dew that clung to the leaves of the  
bushes, clung to the ground, thousands of diamonds in a world of  
wonder.  
  
But a shadow was cast in the distance, the shadow of her own  
insanity, the cold reality that she had brought about herself like a  
frigid cowl, the darkness in her own soul. It grew in size and might,  
bringing with it the horrible truth that it held... That she was a  
slave in her own little world.  
  
As it drew near she watched on in horror as the flowers, so bright  
and full of life and love, whithered and blackened, becoming twisted  
parodies of their once glorious splendor, their thorns becoming wicked  
daggers that cut at her mind.  
  
The darkness grew closer, and closer, until finally all that was  
left untouched was a small circle of life around her, aglow from a  
brightness that emanated behind her. Turning around, she saw once  
again the symbol of her lost childhood, hanging there, eyes pleading,  
hand outstretched...  
  
With tears in her eyes, she accepted the child's hand, for the first time  
in years seeing beyond her own pain, seeing what she had lost, and what  
she could once more regain...  
  
The nightmare disappeared in a flash of blinding light, revealing  
once again the brightly lit garden of blood-red roses. She found her  
hand held by another, the hand of the childhood that she had left  
behind, and saw the tears of joy in those dark, but hauntingly  
beautiful eyes.  
  
A soft giggle escaped from the girl, and Kodachi felt herself  
slipping from her dream...  
  
***  
  
Kodachi awoke for a moment, her tears tracing lines of silver down  
her pale skin. A smile now graced her lips, but it did not hold the  
insane dementia as it had for so many years now... It was a true smile,  
a smile of joy.  
  
Once again Kodachi fell to her dreams, but this time they were much  
happier...  
  
***  
  
Kasumi dreamed once again...  
  
The kitchen was the same as always, as was her mother standing  
there, tending the stove, but she was different. She was not the small  
child that she had always been in these dreams, but her true self,  
standing tall and proud.  
  
The same bowl was in her hands, the washcloth wiping it in sure,  
smooth motions honed by time and experience. The steam that rose from  
the sink was warm and heavy in the air, carrying with it the familiar  
scent of dish soap.  
  
Once again she turned, the soapy bowl in her hands, smiling at her  
mother, who had a look of happiness and contentment about her. But this  
time the bowl did not slip, the bowl did not shatter... no, the bowl  
was taken from her hands by her mother, who took it and dried it with a  
nearby towel.  
  
The bowl was handed back, and Kasumi looked into its depths, and saw  
that it was filled with silver, reflecting her own face back at her.  
The light of her soul reflected back a thousand fold, revealing the  
shadows of the chains as they once again burst from the wall...  
  
But once again things were different, the light became a  
barrier against the chains as they tried to hold her against her will.  
The chains writhed around like snakes, trying again and again to reach  
her, to ensnare her, to imprison her.  
  
She took one step, then another, then another, walking to the open  
doorway, and the freedom it represented. The chains tried again  
and again to hold her, but they could not, their movements becoming  
weaker and weaker as she began to understand that it was she who had  
made them, that it was she who had forged their every link, hiding from  
what her soul told her, holding on to that last memory that she had of  
her mother.  
  
And then she understood...  
  
She looked back from the doorway, giving her mother one last look  
before leaving it all behind. She could see nothing but happiness and  
pride in the woman's eyes as she slowly faded away, the kitchen leaving  
with her.  
  
Kasumi sighed, and looked around her, seeing what had been kept from  
her for so many years, and saw nothing. Absolutely nothing. Nothing,  
that is, except for an empty foundation.  
  
She looked down at her hands, and saw a brick where the bowl had  
been, a brick of pure silver, reflecting her own feelings back at her,  
telling her nothing more than what she was telling herself.  
  
There is nothing, for you must build your life on your own, you must  
plan the true home of your soul, you must decide where to lay the first  
brick.  
  
And she did. She walked to the center of the empty foundation,  
finding there the place for the room that would hold her heart and,  
with a gentle smile, placed the brick of silver there, beginning the  
long and tedious task of rebuilding her own soul. Another hand reached  
out from beside her, a strong masculine hand, with it's own brick of  
prismatic colors, a brick which was set beside her own.  
  
She looked up the arm, then to the face of the man beside her, and  
saw two eyes of the deepest cobalt blue that she had ever seen, eyes  
that reflected love, despite the hesitant manner in which they showed  
it to her, rough from lack of practice.  
  
Which was good, for they could learn together...  
  
***  
  
Kasumi blinked her eyes open, and tilted her head to see who she  
rested against, and her eyes once again looked into his, and saw the love  
there, despite the discomfort that he showed in this new and uncharted  
realm of their souls.  
  
With a sigh she rested her cheek against his covered chest, and fell  
back asleep.  
  
***  
  
Ranma smiled faintly, and closed his eyes...  
  
Yes, he could sleep...  
  
***  
  
BAMF!  
  
"Damn it..."  
  
***  
  
  
  
Well now, that's a somewhat shorter chapter than the ones I've been  
slamming out, but it is filled once again with the images and meanings,  
the building blocks that make such a story as this... whatever it is...  
  
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the visuals contained within, and are in  
turn not confused as to what I'm saying there. I would appreciate it if  
you either reviewed (for those at FF.net) or sent me an E-mail (for  
those of you at CoRK) as to what you think of the story so far. And  
yes, despite my claims, I *will* read, and consider, the flames that  
are sent my way... I will, however, wear asbestos gloves...  
  
gryphon_aerie@msn.com  
  
This is Gryphon Aerie, signing off...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
^_^; 


	12. Chp 12

On a Pale Mustang  
By: Gryphon Aerie  
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction  
  
Disclaimers:  
Ranma is owned by Rumiko Takahashi  
And yes, 'On a Pale Horse' *is* written by Piers Anthony, thoughis story is only LOOSELY associated with that grand work because  
Death was killed for Ranma to become Death himself. You will (probably)  
not be seeing ANY of the characters from that book. (Of course, I won'ake any promises...)  
That is all  
  
  
Chapter 12  
  
  
***  
  
Kasumi slowly woke up, the soft light from the morning sun juseginning to brighten the skies outside the window. She sighed slightly,  
and burrowed her head deeper into the pillows that it rested on, notinhat the pillows were... firmer...  
  
"Oh... *my*..." she said softly.  
  
She placed her hands on the bed, making sure not to wake her beartner, and pressed herself up. Sure enough, she had been burrowing heead into the large, yet firm breasts of her currently female fiancee.  
She was surprised, for a moment, that her actions had not awoken thoung martial artist, but then she remembered that Ranma slept the sleef the dead.  
  
Or, perhaps the precise term would now be the sleep of Death. No, toorbid, he--she-was still Ranma, no matter what had happened. Not onlas he Ranma, but he was now *her* Ranma, which gave her hope that, jusaybe, her life would finally go right for her.  
  
Her mind drifted to the dreams that she'd had the night before, anf the meanings evident there. Her life was now hers, and hers alone,  
and she wanted to build it again, in her own image... But she didn'ant to do it alone, she wanted the renewal of her mind, and soul, to be  
Ranma's as well.  
  
Kasumi smiled, then slowly moved along the bed, making sure to creats little of a disturbance in her passing as possible, so as not to waker sleeping friend. Her eyes glanced at Ranma-chan's breasts for oment, and then darted quickly away, a blush painting itself across heeatures yet again.  
  
***  
  
The moment that the door to Ranma's bedroom closed a single eyelilickered, and opened, revealing the cobalt eye that had been hiddeehind. An eye that darted around, searching the room even as it'wner, seemingly still asleep but for that single act, stayed just atill as before, breathing slow and even.  
  
Moments later, after confirming solitude, Ranma-chan sat up in bed,  
the blankets that had covered her stomach spilling down her frame annto her lap. With a weird, sideways scowl she reached up her hands anouched her chest.  
  
Lightly.  
  
"Damn, these things are *way* too sensitive," Ranma-chan muttered terself. "I *still* don't see how girls can stand it..."  
  
With a soft snort she spun her legs out and over the edge of the bed,  
stretching her arms over her head, the aforementioned breasts jigglins she did so. A loud, heart-felt yawn echoed against the bare walls oer room for a moment. She stood up, revealing that she wore nothinore than a simple pair of black silk drawstring boxers.  
  
She scratched idly at her ribs as she walked over to her dresser, heind working over the thought of how... nice it had been to sleep with  
Kasumi in her arms. Even as she grabbed a suit of her customary Chineslothes, not noticing that they changed from blue to black as she dio, she remembered the soft, cloying, and utterly wonderful scent of thlder girl.  
  
With a sigh she turned and opened the door, clothes tucked under heeft arm, chest still bare as the day she was born. And, as luck woulave it, her mother was just walking past her door at the time, anooked over...  
  
***  
  
Kasumi smiled softly to herself at the sound of Ranma's motheerating him about his lack of decency. Gently berating, some would say,  
as her voice only rose far enough for her to barely hear it throughe walls. Firmly berating, to those who knew 'that tone of voice'.  
Ranma-chan's confused reply told her that he was still a she, whicaused her to unconsciously flush.  
  
Moments later a soft bamf could be heard, once again signaling hild, yet new change of genders.  
  
She dropped lower into the furo, the water rising to her chin. Heray eyes stared out across the short distance of water to thteam-shrouded wall. She slowly let her mind go adrift. The gentle sounf the lapping of the water soothed her senses, reminding her of wheer life had been so horribly simple, before he had come along.  
  
She sighed, and thought about the dreams that she'd had the nighefore, thought about the meaning behind them, the blatant messages thaere given to her in the depths of her sleep. Messages that told hehat she was no longer a slave, that she was to build her life anew,  
one... brick at a time.  
  
Funny, she'd never thought she'd become a mason...  
  
But still, there was that question. That one, inescapable questiohat which plagued her now, as it had once long ago. A question that show had to face, and solve, for the betterment of her own soul...  
  
What was she going to do?  
  
***  
  
Nodoka shook her head as she walked down the hall and to the waitinarden view of the living room. Her son, daughter--no, son--had almoso modesty, nor did he have even the basic understanding of manners. Has uncouth, brash, and cocky. But... he was also honorable, kind, anoving, despite his utter lack of positive social skills.  
  
It would take no little effort to teach him to be more... eloquent.  
  
And perhaps get him to look into other areas of knowledge rather thao through his life knowing only how to fight. Okay, so he might be upernatural entity, but that didn't mean that he shouldn't learomething new.  
  
After all, her own life was unusual in it's own way, so her son bein greater being wasn't too bad. Sure, it would take getting used tut... At least he was there with her, and with Kasumi.  
  
Kasumi, who now held that special place in his heart that heoungest sister had for so many months. Kasumi, who had always been ihe background, mostly ignored by all others... All, of course, but  
Ranma himself, who had seen another person that had been as lonely ae, and had tried to help as best he could. All this, despite thimitations of keeping his part in upholding the household a secret frohe others.  
  
Yes, there was hope for him yet...  
  
She sighed, and looked up as she walked through the sliding doors the open-air room. The snow-covered garden could be seen through thpen wall opposite, the edge of the retaining wall cutting a harsh lincross the deep blue morning skies. The occasional high roof anelevision antenna could be seen beyond her yard, barely visiblbove her own artificial horizon. A single sparkling gem of igh-flying airliner could be seen in the far distance, sliding throughe air on wings of steel.  
  
With a faint smile she sat down, legs folded beneath her, handesting on her lap. The slight chill in the air caused her to shivelightly, causing the heavy cotton of her outer robe to rustle. A houp of tea placed before her soon alleviated the cold, however, anllowed her to appreciate the morning.  
  
"Hello, mother," said the gentle voice of Kasumi Tendo from besider, causing her to look over.  
  
She noted absently that it had been Kasumi's hands that had provideer tea.  
  
"Why hello, Kasumi-chan," Nodoka replied pleasantly. "Would you caro join me?"  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Kasumi sat beside her, looking out into the winter scene, a similaup of tea warming her hands. The calm of the early morning, and tharmth of the tea, soon eased some of the discomfort in Kasumi's soul,  
leftovers from the dreams that she had experienced the night before.  
  
Kasumi came to a decision...  
  
"Mother?" she asked.  
  
"Yes, dear?" the Saotome patriarch replied.  
  
"Your offer, before. About teaching me Kendo?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I think... I think that I would like to try... for myself," Kasumaid.  
  
Nodoka smiled to herself, glad not only for Kasumi, but also foerself. She finally had a student to teach her family's art, an arhat would have died with her. Finally, after all these years ooneliness, of not knowing if she would ever seen her son again, should finally rest peacefully. Finally, after eleven long years...  
  
She had a family...  
  
"Thank you..."  
  
***  
  
Ranma slowly let himself let go of the changing room's ceiling,  
landing lightly on the balls of his feet. He clutched at his furiousleating heart, eyes wide in terror and imminent doom as they darteround. Stretching his superior senses to their utmost he felt out,  
through the walls, beyond the hall, and deep into every corner of thouse. He only let himself relax after he confirmed that he was safrom that which had terrified him for so many months, though in ifferent... form.  
  
You'd think that after a year of walking in on, and being walked in in the bathroom that perhaps--just perhaps, mind you--he would havearned to check for the 'occupied' sign, knock on the door, and shouonfirmation that nobody was in there at the time.  
  
After hanging from the ceiling for a full five minutes, two of thehile Kasumi was changing right below him, the lesson was finallrilled into him. He didn't think that he could handle her being juselow him, her mode of dress, or lack thereof, clearly evident. He waucky he didn't get nosebleeds, or just the quick sight of heteam-clouded form would have sent him into a bloody sprawl.  
  
The pig-tailed young man slapped the side of his face to shakimself out of his state of shock, and stumbled over to the changinrea. The slight sting in his cheek quickly subsided as his bare feelapped against the wet tile floor, bringing him over to the basket fohe dirty clothes.  
  
Checking once again for his privacy he began his daily ritual oathing, taking slight comfort in the simple act of preparing his bodnd mind for the day ahead. Even with all the chaos in his life, witll the hard times, he had always liked a bath...  
  
Well... all except for those few times.  
  
Like the first day there, when the Tendo family didn't know about hiurse. Or all the times that he got throttled for being in the samathing area as Akane, no matter if it was his fault or--even morikely--hers. That and the Cat Tongue incident...  
  
"The curse..." he muttered to himself as he splashed the cold watepon himself to rinse. He noted that he did not feel the familiar tinglf the change, the feel that he had once gotten when his leg had fallesleep--once it had gone past the painful pins-and-needles stage, thas--as if his entire body was waking up to it's new form and shape.  
  
But now... he just changed.  
  
But why? And, more importantly, *how*?  
  
He thought on this as he lowered himself into the still-steaminaters of the furo, letting the hot, almost scalding, water slip oveis muscular frame. A slight frown crossed his face as he did so, thormally relaxing act of just soaking now broken and torn by hiuriously working mind.  
  
He thought, then pondered, what could be causing his change. Iefinitely had nothing to do with water, let alone it's temperature.  
There were neither magical amulets, potions, nor curses that had beelaced on him that he knew of. Hell, Cologne hadn't even tried a singlressure point on him since that morning when he became... Death...  
  
"Wait a minute..." he said aloud, scowling at the steam. "If itarted when I came back, after becoming Death, then it must havomething to do with what happened..."  
  
***  
  
Deep in the cursed bowls of hell the demon lord Kurolomin sat on hihrone. His massive talons were latticed before his half-closed, blooed eyes, their razor-sharp edges glinting in the occasional burst olames. Everything about him matched his color scheme, black and red, at should.  
  
Appearances meant a lot in the hierarchy of demon lords, after all.  
If one could not keep up appearances, then the other demon lords mighecide that you're weak enough for them to... remove, thus gaininrestige in their own circles of evil.  
  
But suddenly something was amiss... The normally hellish--if you'lardon the pun--temperature began to drop slightly. Then it dropperamatically, causing him to burst to his feet in a blast of furioueat and anger.  
  
"WHAT DARES?!" he demanded to his surroundings. "WHAT DARES TO DEFY  
MY WILL IN MY VERY OWN REALM?!"  
  
Suddenly, from the dark, cavernous air above came a wave of white,  
becoming more distinct as it fell slowly, ever so slowly, to the grouneneath. It defied the very natural order of things, being as it warozen, and it's surroundings very nearly boiling. But there it was...  
  
Snow...  
  
Kurolomin roared in rage, a blast of liquid stone bursting forth frois gaping maw. Again and again he let out his fury, but to no avail, at began to snow harder... and harder...  
  
***  
  
"I got it!" Ranma said, standing up with a resounding splash.  
  
He stood there in the water for a moment, his face aglow with glee.  
And then he sat down, a thoughtful look on his face once again. Aftell, he didn't know what to do with the knowledge that he had jusained from this strange practice called... Thinking.  
  
"Okay now... I know that I change female at *supposedly* randoimes, and that this happened ever since I took my, er, *office*. So I  
think that this has something to do with either the office itself, which  
I don't know, or with the guy that had my job before me... So..." Ranmaid, slowing to a stop. "DEATH YOU BASTARD! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"  
  
He once again sat down in the tub, pondering this new revelation ahe waves subsided. Be that as it may, this information really didn't dim a whole lot of good. After all, that didn't let him know exactly  
*how* it was that he now changed.  
  
"Wait... When did I change back and forth?" he wondered aloud. "Let'ee... The first time was when I was holding Kasumi-chan in her bedroom,  
Cologne was there, and we were talking about... What I was going to dbout the others..."  
  
"The next time was when I was re-introducing myself to the others as  
Death. The one after that was... um... When Akane attacked Kasumi-chan,  
and I changed back to male... And then the time after that was... when I  
was talking with them in the living room, and they were asking all thosuestions... And then when I was meditating... Don't know why I changehen... Then when Kasumi called me to dinner..." he stopped, shaking hiead for a moment. "Okay, that's enough of that... Now, what did all ohose times have in common?"  
  
He sat...  
  
And thought...  
  
And thought some more...  
  
BAMF!  
  
"That's it!" Ranma-chan shouted, rushing into a standing position fohe third time during her troubled soak. The sound of hurried footstepould be heard in another part of the house as several people reacted the disruptions. Ranma-chan, unfortunately, didn't notice. She had othehings on her mind at the moment.  
  
"I change when I feel more comfortable being a girl!" Ranma-chaxclaimed in glee. "But wait... Why would I feel more comfortable as irl when... um... never mind..."  
  
She blushed slightly, thinking about Kasumi being in her bed with heast night, her lithe body pressed against her, separated my mere inchef bedding, the tantalizing pressure, the calming rhythm of her breats Kasumi's scent filled her head...  
  
SHUU-WHAM!  
  
"Ranma! Are you okay?" Nodoka asked, her hair wild from a swift ruhrough the halls of their home. Behind her could be seen Kazama and, ittle bit back, Kasumi.  
  
"W-wha?" Ranma-chan asked, and then she then dove deep into thater, her red pigtail the only thing revealed above the slightly cooleepths of the furo. Her audience blink-blinked, then realized where theere, and what state of dress the Saotome heir was in.  
  
"Oh my," Kasumi whispered to herself, blushing lightly as her mineplayed the few moments before her fiancee, currently female, had doveneath the surface.  
  
"Ah... I think everything's secure here, ladies," Kazama saiervously. "Move along, move along..."  
  
***  
  
Up in heaven a certain Scotsman, whom we all know by now, was oncgain rolling on his back and laughing so hard that he had most likelulled a few muscles in his ribs from the exertion. If laughter was thest medicine then he must be one the healthiest damned spirits ieaven right at that very moment.  
  
Then again, having just been cursed by Death, one can't be *too*  
healthy...  
  
Through the surface of the mirror could be seen a soaked Ranma-chaeeking out over the rim of the furo, her pig-tail standing up on end,  
her eyes wide with shock and terror. Months of ingrained reactions werelling her to run, and run *quick*. She'd never had good luck witathing areas...  
  
"I never thought that he'd catch on to the change in his curse," the  
Scotsman huffed as his laughter finally slowed. "I must'a underestimatehe lad."  
  
Suddenly, in a soft rustling sound, Narin stood beside the stiliddy Scotsman, a particularly serious look on his pale face. Beneathe flowing red of his cloak could be seen the bare outline of hirossed arms, and his eyes were cold and flat.  
  
"Kurolomin is not very happy right now," Narin said. "It seems thaomebody has done the impossible yet again, and caused a freak snotorm in his Realm. He had to fight off three demon lords, alone, juso keep the others from tearing at him like a pack of starved dirolves." He looked to his 'companion', his eyes narrowing. "I somehoave a feeling that *you're* involved with this. Am I wrong?"  
  
The Scotsman chuckled, then winced, holding his side for a momenefore replying. "Nay, lad. 'Twas the boy, the new Death, that causehe impossible to be otherwise," he said with a slight grin. "He did thmpossible, all right. For him."  
  
"And just *what* did he do?" Narin asked.  
  
"He thought."  
  
Narin blinked.  
  
"He..."  
  
"Thought," the Scotsman finished for him. "Yes."  
  
For a few moments it appeared as if Narin would actually laugh, but soon passed. His mask of serious and composed aloofness once agaiell into place, his eyes becoming twin pools of pure darkness.  
  
"Very well," Narin said. "I just hope that my... *master*... wilot take his rage out on *me*. Unlike you, I still have something lefo do other than stick my nose in other people's existences."  
  
"Fine! Go then! You've stayed your hour!" the Scotsman shouted at  
Narin's retreating back.  
  
Narin sighed, and slightly shook his head as he faded away from the  
Heavens, once again returning to his own dark realm.  
  
***  
  
  
Okay, I'll stop it here.  
  
I hope that those of you who hadn't figured out the cause for hihange are happy now. And for those of you who had realized the reason,  
and it was different... Well, write your own story, thanks.  
  
Sorry it took me so long, but I've been rather busy between class,  
commuting, homework, and general resting to really have any energy seside for this. I'm not saying that I'm going to be any faster, as I  
won't make any promises. I will, however, say that I will *not* storiting on this thing until either I'm dead, or I feel it's finished.  
  
And, just so I don't forget this time around...  
  
This story has been pre-read by three people, who go by the namef...  
  
Nementh  
Silverbreeze  
And one guy who wanted to remain anonymous  
  
C&C gratefully accepted.  
  
gryphon_aerie@msn.com  
  
This is Gryphon Aerie, signing off...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
^_^; 


End file.
